Sorca Clarke
Ceist:584. Deputy Sorca Clarke asked the Minister for Health how the €1.4 million new development funding in 2024 for the expansion of the newborn bloodspot screening will be spent. [17411/24]
Amharc ar fhreagraTuesday, 23 April 2024
Ceisteanna (584)
Freagraí scríofa
The expansion of the National Newborn Bloodspot Screening (NBS) Programme continues to remain a key objective of mine as Minister for Health, and I am pleased to note that the National Screening Advisory Committee (NSAC) has been actively progressing work in this regard.
NSAC is an independent expert group that considers and assesses evidence in a robust and transparent manner, and against internationally accepted criteria. It is important that we have rigorous processes in place to ensure our screening programmes are effective, quality assured, validated and operating to safe standards, and that the benefits of screening outweigh the harms.
Significant progress continues to be made on the expansion of the NBS Programme under this Government. As the Deputy will be aware, in November 2023, I endorsed the recommendation from NSAC on the addition and Spinal Muscular Atrophy (SMA) to the NBS programme. This was in addition to Severe Combined Immunodeficiency (SCID) and January 2023 and will bring the number of conditions screened for as part of what is commonly known as the ‘heel prick’ test in Ireland to 11, once the implemented, representing a 37% increase over the lifetime of this Government.
In February of this year, I was pleased to allocate €1.4m of new development funding in 2024 to support the expansion of the NBS programme. This funding will allow for the rollout of testing for both SCID and SMA in 2024 and represents a significant increase in a single year. The announcement further demonstrates my ongoing commitment to reducing the impact of these rare but serious diseases in children and infants. This investment will be crucial to providing additional funds for new equipment, recruitment of additional staff and training to facilitate addition of new conditions to NBS programme.
I am glad to confirm that work commenced at the start of this year between officials in my Department and the HSE National Children’s Screening Programme on implementing an ambitious timeline for the introduction of screening for SMA and SCID.