Around 200 women will have to undergo a repeat smear test because their results have gone out of date.
The women affected will be contacted by their GP in the coming days.
The HSE says they expired because of covid restrictions and a huge demand on the CervicalCheck service
It has apologised for any inconvenience and worry this delay may have caused.
Anyone concerned can ring the National Screening Service number on 1800 454 555.
Speaking on Tipp FM, Sinn Fein’s Health spokesperson David Cullinane says that while its disappointing, women affected should not be overly concerned.
He said: “Obviously this is disappointing but at the same time its 180 cases out of 200,000 tests that were carried out. Just because HPV is detected, does not in any way mean that any of the women involved have cancer.”
He added, “Women should contact their GP and should be given support and we need to make sure this doesn’t happen again”.
