Mr. John Paul Ricken is a constituent of mine. He lost his wife, Susan, to bowel cancer. He is campaigning for improved bowel cancer screening programmes. I support his campaign.

Around 2,800 people are diagnosed with bowel cancer in Ireland every year and about 1,000 people die from it here each year. Early screening can prevent cancer from forming in the first place. In France and Germany testing begins at the age of 50 and in the US the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has recently changed its recommended age for beginning screening from 50 to 45. In this State, screening starts at 60. Does the Minister agree with me that this State is way behind the curve on this issue and investment is needed to sharply reduce the age for screening to begin in this country?

The question of the correct ages for all our screening programmes is one the HSE keeps under regular review. There have been similar, reasonable and well-intentioned calls on BreastCheck and CervicalCheck. The current ages across the various screening programmes are based on the current best clinical opinion of the HSE. The Deputy has raised an important question and I am more than happy to raise it again with the clinical teams in the HSE to ensure the age we have set provides the best possible outcomes. I am sure the Deputy will agree that regardless of what the age is, we should acknowledge how important the screening programmes are and encourage everyone to use them when they come to the eligible age.