CervicalCheck now has a backlog of 78,000 smear tests.
The cervical cancer screening programme faces the backlog of slides following a considerable increase in samples taken last year.
It is estimated that the CervicalCheck scandal, in which over 200 women were given false negative results, led to an additional 9,000 women opting for a free smear.
In some cases, patients are now waiting up to 27 weeks for the results of their test.
The average wait time is about three months.
This comes after 6,000 women were asked to have repeat smear tests due to a confusion between CervicalCheck and laboratories.
Many of the samples were rendered invalid because they had not been tested by laboratories within a 30 day time period.
This confusion was
a separate issue to the enormous backlog of samples due the introduction of a free smear test last year, following the CervicalCheck scandal.
Many of the women went on to develop cervical cancer in the years following their tests with some others, including
Orla Church, passing away recently.
Others including Vicky Phelan have campaigned extensively to shed light on the scandal.
The HSE is due to give an update on the backlog issue at an Oireachtas Committee this morning.
