Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 12 February 2019
395. Deputy Seán Barrett asked the Minister for Health if consideration will be given to establishing a screening programme for haemochromatosis such as in the UK in order to ensure that no person goes undiagnosed with an iron overload (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [6488/19]
View answerIt is correct to say that haemochromatosis is now recognised as one of the most common genetic disorders in Ireland. Research has shown that as many as 1 in 100 people are likely to be at risk of developing iron overload. However this fact alone is not sufficient to commence a population based screening programme.
There are well established international criteria to be met before a national population based screening programme can be recommended. The current position of the UK National Screening Committee is that a systematic population screening programme is not recommended.
Arising from a recommendation from the Scally Report (2018) a National Screening Committee (NSC) will be established and become operational in Ireland during the course of 2019. The NSC will be responsible for advising the Minister and Department of Health on all new proposals for screening and revisions of existing programmes.
