'Women with cervical cancer have been abandoned by the Government'

Taoiseach Leo Varadkar pledged during an RTÉ News interview in 2018 if a laboratory choose court over mediation: “What we will do in this situation is the State will settle and pursue the lab later. So essentially the State will be on the side of the plaintive, on the side of the woman.”

However solicitor Cian O’Carroll described that as “a false promise” and said that the pledge is a “shockingly abandoned comment” by now.

“I’m not aware of a single case that hasn’t been successful, that has not established or had an admission of liability by the laboratory,” he said.

“These are women who were pre-selected as a cohort of people who on the face of it were the victims of negligence. 

"So from day one they should have been treated differently.”

The family in this case have been left to grieve after an extremely difficult court process, he said.

“She wanted also an opportunity to improve things for others who find themselves in this situation,” he said. 

“It’s been a feature of all the CervicalCheck litigation.”

Corkwoman Carol Murray, a member of the 221+ patient support group, said the ongoing need for court cases is “a disgrace”.

“It is quite upsetting, but at the end of the day I’m not surprised. It is five years later and people are still being dragged through the courts, five years since it came to light,” she said.

She is taking legal proceedings also. “I have time on my hands,” she told 96FM. 

“But there are many women who are terminal, there are many women that are fighting to have their voice heard, and get closure for themselves and their family before their time does come.”

She added: “It’s quite heart-breaking because they don’t have time on their hands, let’s call a spade a spade. And for the fact they are still being dragged through and having to beg for an earlier court case is an absolute disgrace.”

Meanwhile the 221+ group has reacted to the ongoing closure of the new national cervical screening laboratory.

The facility opened in December but closed in March as paperwork required by the Irish National Accreditation Board was not completed on time.

A spokeswoman told the Irish Examiner: “We are eager for testing to resume in Ireland and are glad to see the accreditation progressing in the correct manner.”

The National Screening Service has said this delay is not affecting turnaround times or how women and GPs receive results, which the group welcomed. 

“We will continue to monitor the situation and to update members on progress,” the spokeswoman said.

Returning processing of smears to Ireland was a key aim for campaigner Vicky Phelan who died from cervical cancer last November in Limerick aged just 48.