North Kildare TD says it is 'extraordinary' that Leixlip's Emma Nic  Mhathúna is so sick at having to go to court

A North Kildare TD whose daughter attended school with Emma Nic Mhathúna, one of the 209 women  in the Cervical Check Scandal, says it is 'extraordinary' that she is being forced to go to the High Court.

Mother of 5, Emma Nic  Mhathúna, grew up in Leixlip.

She said she underwent smear tests every three years since the birth of her teenager daughter, and that all the results had come back as normal until 2016.

In 2016, she was told she had cervical cancer.

Speaking on RTE radio she said: "The doctor told me I had stage 2B cervical cancer.I was saying to myself, ‘How did things get so bad?’… I had the letter from (the smear in) 2013 to say everything was fine.”

Lawyers for Ms Mhic Mhathúna and her five children have called on the HSE to confirm whether or not they would be contesting liability in the part of the case relating to an alleged misreading or misdiagnosis of a smear test.

The Cervical Check Scandal broke when Vicky Phelan, a 43-year-old mother-of-two from Co Limerick, settled a High Court action for €2.5m after being incorrectly told in 2011 that her smear test had given a negative result for cancer.

In 2014 she was diagnosed with cancer but only told of the false negative last September.

Social Democrats Co -Leader and resident of Leixlip Catherine Murphy says that she will be putting a question to Minister of Health, Simon Harris, urging action on the Cervical Check Scandal.

She said: "I don't know why we are seeing a very sick woman walking in and out of the court. We have all been told that every effort would be made to help these women, it is extraordinary that there is a very ill woman in the court."