I propose to take Questions Nos. 780 to 782, inclusive, 785 and 808 together.
The UK NICE (National Institute for Clinical Excellence) guidelines are the current guidelines in use in Ireland for coeliac disease diagnosis and management. This disease is included in the undergraduate and postgraduate medical training curricula.
Currently, screening for coeliac disease is not routinely carried out. The blood test required is reasonably, but not completely, accurate. This means that routinely screening the entire population could produce a high number of false-positive results. In other words, people would be misdiagnosed as having coeliac disease when they did not have it. Therefore, screening for coeliac disease is usually only recommended for people who are experiencing symptoms of the condition or those with known risk factors for the condition, such as having a family history of the disease.
Those who are offered serological testing for coeliac disease should include first degree relatives of people with coeliac disease. A positive blood test result may give an indication of coeliac disease, but definitive diagnosis requires an endoscopic examination to obtain a biopsy of the small bowel. The diagnosis and treatment of coeliac disease is primarily managed by GPs who are encouraged to follow the NICE UK guidelines in the course of their practice. There is currently no national register of people with coeliac disease in Ireland.
On the question of targeted screening, my Department is aware that the international scientific literature, including a review against the criteria of the UK National Screening Committee, does not support the introduction of such a screening programme.