Ambulances bringing emergency cases to St Colmcille's Hospital, Loughlinstown, Co Dublin, are being diverted to other hospitals at night.
The move results from a refusal by theatre nurses to provide the current level of on-call service after 4.30 p.m.
Nurses say that being on call after 4.30 p.m. means that when they are off duty they have to be within half an hour of the hospital, cannot make plans for a social life, must always have babysitting arrangements in place and cannot have a drink.
Some nurses find themselves spending their free time minding the children of other nurses who have been called in.
The problem, the Irish Nurses' Organisation (INO) says, is that a small number of theatre nurses are being asked to provide a substantial amount of cover. They are paid £13.04 a night for being on call.
The East Coast Area Health Board has accused the INO of ignoring industrial relations procedures. The INO says it will meet management anytime.
Management says the action involves four nurses. However, the INO says it involves five full-time and eight job-sharing nurses.
An INO spokesman said he understood talks would take place at the Labour Relations Commission on Friday.
The number of people waiting for neurosurgery is steadily rising, according to figures given to TDs Mr Richard Bruton and Mr Sean Barrett by the Minister for Health and Children, Mr Martin. In December 1998, 414 people were on the waiting list and by the end of last year this had risen to 516.
The number placed on the surgical waiting list might be higher if people could see a neurologist more quickly. However, the waiting list for neurology has almost doubled from 80 to 155.
Mr Martin was unable to say how long it takes to get an appointment with a neurosurgeon after being referred by a family doctor.
Mr Barrett said there was one neurologist per 350,000 people and that a patient could wait up to 18 months to see a neurologist.
Mr Martin acknowledged that the demand for neurological services was rising "with new, effective, complex therapies for many disorders such as epilepsy and Parkinson's disease becoming available".
Comhairle na nOspideal has now been asked to conduct a review of neurological services.
Almost half of all elective surgical procedures for children at Tallaght Hospital were done privately in one three-month period last year. Of 282 operating room procedures, 154 (55 per cent) were public and 128 private. For adults the proportion of procedures done publicly was higher: 65 per cent of the 1,382 procedures were done publicly. The figures were released under the Freedom of Information Act.
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