Work to expand Ireland's screening programmes 'in progress' — Health Minister

BreastChecks are undertaken at four HSE clinics — including the Southern Unit in Ballintemple, Cork — and 21 mobile screening units. Picture: Larry Cummins

Work is "progressing" on expanding the country's screening programmes, the Health Minister has said.

The age range for the BreastCheck programme, which sees women aged 50 to 69 offered a free-of-charge breast screening every two years, is among those which are being considered for an expansion.

Stephen Donnelly made the comment while responding to a parliamentary question from Sinn Féín's Eoin Ó Broin about the service.

Mr Donnelly said he was "fully committed to supporting our population screening programmes, which are a valuable part of our health service". 

He said they enable early treatment and care for many people and improve the overall health of the nation.

Under commitments in the Programme for Government after the last election, BreastCheck eligibility was expanded to women aged 69 years since 2021.

Mr Donnelly said any further changes in cancer screening, including further extension of age ranges, would be made on the advice of the National Screening Advisory Committee (NSAC) — an independent expert group.

He said: "It is important we have rigorous processes in place to ensure our screening programmes are effective, quality assured, operating to safe standards, and that the benefits of screening outweigh the harms. 

"Careful consideration must be given to any proposed expansion of Ireland’s screening programmes, and this process must be afforded the necessary amount of time to complete. This includes ensuring that decisions are made based on internationally accepted criteria."

However, he did confirm that NSAC was "progressing work to consider the further expansion of Ireland's screening programmes" — in particular, BreastCheck.

Mr Donnelly continued: "On the basis of a request from NSAC, the Health Information and Quality Authority [Hiqa] has commenced initial work on evaluating the evidence for a further expansion of the age range eligibility for the BreastCheck programme, in addition to examining the matter of breast density."

BreastChecks are undertaken at four HSE clinics — including the Southern Unit in Ballintemple, Cork — and 21 mobile screening units.

About 3,700 new cases of breast cancer are diagnosed each year in Ireland.

One in seven women will be diagnosed in their lifetime compared to one in 728 men, with 34% of women diagnosed between the ages of 51-69 years.

Symptoms of breast cancer include:

• A lump or thickening in your breast or armpit; 
• A change in size or shape of your breast such as one breast becoming larger than the other; 
• A change in the skin of your breast, such as puckering, ridges or dimpling (the skin may look like orange peel) or redness;
• A change in your nipple, such as a pulled in, sunken or flattened nipple;
• An unusual discharge (liquid) from one or both of your nipples. The discharge may be blood stained or watery.