Nora Owen
Question:74 Mrs. Owen asked the Minister for Health and Children when legislation to amend the Data Protection Act, 1988, will be introduced to facilitate the establishment of a national cancer screening register. [19827/97]
Written Answers. - Cancer Register.
The establishment of a national population register is a prerequisite for the implementation of a national breast cancer screening programme. Initially, there were some data protection issues surrounding the compilation of a population register. However, these obstacles have been overcome with the passing of the Health (Provision of Information) Act in March 1997.
Officials from my Department are currently in discussion with officials from VHI, BUPA, the Department of Social, Community and Family Affairs and the General Medical Services (Payments) Board with a view to compiling relevant data to form a single population register.