People with suspected Covid-19 are still waiting 10 days for their results, despite a ramping-up of testing.
It's hoped 15,000 tests will be processed daily by the end of the month.
But Dr Cillian De Gascun, director of the National Virus Reference Laboratory, says there are still delays with the backlog of cases.
"The wait time certainly for people who aren't either hospitalised or healthcare workers is in the region of seven to ten day, on average I would estimate.
"We are prioritising cases from hospitals and healthcare workers because of the limitations on our capacity, and the turnaround time for those individuals is in the region of 24 to 48 hours."
