The Health Service Executive (HSE) has confirmed that up to 6,000 women will need to have their smear tests repeated, due to the time elapsed since the original sample was taken.
The lengthy delay means that the test parameters fall outside the test manufacturer’s specifications, which renders the results inaccurate.
The issue of unreliable smear tests became a national scandal in recent times, following a number of high-profile cases of women diagnosed with advance disease after their tests were mistakenly interpreted.