Health Screening Programmes

532. Deputy Erin McGreehan asked the Minister for Health the remaining operational, laboratory, or procurement barriers to the implementation of SMA newborn screening; the work underway to resolve these; and the expected timeline for completion. [67357/25]

533. Deputy Erin McGreehan asked the Minister for Health if her Department has assessed the clinical risk posed by continued delays in SMA newborn screening, given that infants diagnosed after symptom onset face irreversible neuromuscular deterioration and poorer lifelong outcomes; and to publish any related risk assessments. [67358/25]

534. Deputy Erin McGreehan asked the Minister for Health the governance structures in place to oversee the introduction of new conditions to the national newborn screening programme; and the way in which accountability is being ensured in relation to the delayed implementation of SMA screening. [67359/25]

578. Deputy Johnny Guirke asked the Minister for Health her plans for urgent prioritisation of SMA newborn screening implementation, delayed since the Ministerial announcement in 2023, with a clear time-bound commitment indicating when screening will finally commence; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [67692/25]

589. Deputy Peadar Tóibín asked the Minister for Health the reason newborn babies are not screened for spinal muscular atrophy (SMA); when SMA will be included in the newborn screening programme; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [67711/25]

598. Deputy Willie O'Dea asked the Minister for Health when screening will begin for Spinal Muscular Atrophy (SMA), as part of the newborn screening programme; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [67826/25]

507. Deputy Colm Burke asked the Minister for Health for an update on her plans to introduce a systematic LDL cholesterol screening programme in line with recommendation 20 of the National Review of Cardiac Services; if she intends to introduce such a programme in 2026; if she will consider launching a national 'know your numbers' public awareness campaign on key cardiovascular risk factors (e.g. …

559. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health further to Parliamentary Question Nos. 976 and 977 of 12 November 2025, if she is satisfied that her Department and the HSE do not collect centrally the number and cost of standard lipid profile tests ordered from primary care, in view of the acknowledgement that this information is not held in a national dataset; the way in which she assesses …

562. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health further to Parliamentary Question Nos. 976 and 977 of 12 November 2025, the estimated annual percentage growth in standard lipid profile test volumes across the health service since 2021, in view of the statement that test volumes from all areas, including primary care, have increased by between 10 and 15 percent per year; the way in which this…

563. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health the estimated annual expenditure on standard lipid profile tests ordered from primary care for each year since 2019, based on available data, including the current estimated average cost range per test where precise figures are not available; the reasons for variation in cost per test between regions or providers; and her plans to reduce unwarr…

574. Deputy Seán Crowe asked the Minister for Health the date by which spinal muscular atrophy will be included in the newborn heel prick test, given that her predecessor made a commitment to that effect two years ago. [67215/25]

575. Deputy Sinéad Gibney asked the Minister for Health when newborn screening for spinal muscular atrophy will be rolled out; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [67223/25]

580. Deputy Grace Boland asked the Minister for Health her plans to introduce a free, organised national prostate-specific antigen (PSA) screening programme for men from age 40; the estimated number of men aged 40 to 69 in Ireland; the scale and costs involved; whether the National Screening Advisory Committee has completed its health technology assessment; and when a decision can be expected; and…

581. Deputy Grace Boland asked the Minister for Health the date on which the National Screening Advisory Committee and Health Information and Quality Authority will finalise their health technology assessment on a prostate cancer screening programme; if there are plans to offer interim free PSA tests; if men aged 40 to 69 in the current pilot will be allowed to continue screening beyond the pilot …

582. Deputy Grace Boland asked the Minister for Health for an update on evaluation timelines for Ireland's PRAISE U/ProstateCheck pilot involving 5,000 men in Dublin and Waterford; whether preliminary results have been shared; when these results will be published; if there are plans to extend opt-in PSA screening to all men aged 40 to 69 nationally, particularly those at high-risk; and if she will…

583. Deputy Grace Boland asked the Minister for Health the cost-effectiveness modelling that has been carried out for organised PSA plus digital rectal examination screening starting at age 40 to 69; whether Irish cost-benefit analyses indicate net savings across this age group; the assumptions on uptake, overdiagnosis, potential harms, and subsequent treatments that were made; the monetary and he…

584. Deputy Grace Boland asked the Minister for Health the national public-awareness and behaviour change campaigns planned to encourage men aged 40 to 69 to take part in prostate-cancer screening; whether a dedicated campaign will be developed; the way in which regional inequities in incidence and survival will be addressed; the supports that will be made available to men hesitant to seek PSA tes…

585. Deputy Grace Boland asked the Minister for Health the steps the National Cancer Control Programme and HSE will take to reduce overdiagnosis and overtreatment resulting from PSA testing, to ensure adherence to updated clinical guidelines on follow-up biopsies and imaging; whether HIQA has guidelines and clinical safety protocols in place; the way in which patient quality-of-life outcomes will …

148. Deputy Pádraig Rice asked the Minister for Health the reason the expansion of the newborn bloodspot screening programme to include spinal muscular atrophy and severe combined immunodeficiency has still not been implemented, despite being approved in 2023; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [64321/25]

151. Deputy Donna McGettigan asked the Minister for Health the resources that will be made available for the scanning of women with dense breasts, in whom cancer may not be detectable by mammogram; the protocols which would automatically refer such women for follow-up testing after a mammogram; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [64319/25]

174. Deputy Marie Sherlock asked the Minister for Health when her Department will ensure the addition of spinal muscular atrophy to the Newborn Bloodspot Screening Programme, which is crucial to early diagnosis and support, and which was endorsed by the then Minister in November 2023; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [64375/25]

1041. Deputy John Brady asked the Minister for Health the number of conditions currently screened for in the National Newborn Bloodspot Screening Programme; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [63150/25]

1042. Deputy John Brady asked the Minister for Health her plans to expand the number of conditions that are currently screened for in the National Newborn Bloodspot Screening Programme; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [63151/25]

1043. Deputy John Brady asked the Minister for Health to provide all recommendations from the National Screening Advisory Committee since 2019 regarding the expansion of the National Newborn Bloodspot Screening Programme; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [63152/25]

1044. Deputy John Brady asked the Minister for Health to provide the recommendations from the National Screening Advisory Committee since 2019 regarding the expansion of the National Newborn Bloodspot Screening Programme that have not been implemented; to provide details of when the recommendation was made and when it will be implemented; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [63153/25]