Health Minister Ms Bairbre de Brún hopes to be able to allocate funds in the coming year for an extension of breast screening to women aged between 65-70, she revealed today.
She said such and extension to cancer screening had been recommended by the Screening Committee which advises Westminster and health ministers in all devolved administrations.
However she said it would increase the screening workload by an estimated 40 per cent. "Clearly this would require additional resources, both financial and staffing," she told Assembly members during Health Questions.
"I hope that I will be in a position to allocate some funding for this purpose in the coming year," she added.
However in answer to a question from Ms Monica McWilliams (Women's Coalition, South Belfast) she said there were no plans to introduce blanket screening for women aged between 40-50.
Ms McWilliams had said it was "vital" to introduce such screening after the minister revealed that the number of women in the 40-50 age group diagnosed with breast cancer had gone up from 117 in 1994 to 150 in 1998 - the last year for which figures were available.
Meanwhile the minister also revealed she planned to issue an action plan aimed at reducing the number of teenage pregnancies in Northern Ireland.
The Teenage Parent Action Plan, would also seek to minimise the adverse consequences to those teenagers who did become mothers.
It will propose support for mothers who wished to return to education, she said in answer to a question from Dr Ian Adamson (UUP, East Belfast).
Ms de Brún said she expected to issue the action plan for consultation within the coming weeks.