The Tánaiste and Minister for Health, Mary Harney, has asked the Health Service Executive to report on why A&E waiting figures appear so high.
This followed a claim by the Irish Nurses' Organisation (INO) that a total of 422 patients were on trolleys awaiting admission to wards in the Republic's hospitals yesterday.
The INO said this equalled the previous highest total, which it recorded in January 2005. A spokesman for the Health Service Executive disputed the INO's figure, saying the number of patients on trolleys yesterday was 363. He said there had been "a temporary spike" yesterday but that, in general, the figures showed a gradual improvement.
"I know it's no comfort to someone lying on a trolley, but the truth is, the overall trend is going down," the spokesman said.
According to figures compiled by the INO, 50 patients lay on trolleys in Tallaght Hospital yesterday morning, with 25 at the Mater and 23 in Beaumont. Elsewhere, 32 patients were on trolleys in Limerick, while the figures were also high in Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital, Drogheda (22), University College Hospital Cork (18) and Cavan (17). INO general secretary Liam Doran said the figure of 422 equals the previous highest figure, recorded last January.
"The overcrowding situation continues to deteriorate despite the statements of the Health Service Executive that the situation is improving. [ These] figures show that the overcrowding crisis has worsened, which confirms that measures taken to date are not relieving the situation." Mr Doran said the Government and HSE "must stop denying the severity of the problem" and bring forward emergency measures to alleviate it.