The Tánaiste, Ms Harney, says she is moved by the plight of those affected by deficiencies in the health service and will bring a package of measures before Cabinet in the coming weeks aimed at alleviating overcrowding in A&E departments in particular.
The crisis has been generating higher levels of media attention in recent weeks, focusing on patients left on trolleys for days and in one instance having blood taken in a hospital toilet.
Today, the Irish Nurses Organisation said a patient a Cavan General is today spending a fifth day on a trolley and was likely to be discharged later having never been given a bed.
"One would have to be very stoney-hearted not to feel for them ... I am moved by the traumatic stories," said Ms Harney who was recently appointed Minister for Health.
She said she was in the final stages of gathering information from hospitals and would be presenting a package of proposals to the Cabinet "in the next few weeks".
Easing the overcrowding of A&E departments was her "priority", she said and restated that there is no "magic wand".
"I won't be putting a plaster on a temporary situation ... We can't move from crisis to crisis; change must be sustainable," Ms Harney insisted today.
Ms Harney took a political risk in seeking the Health portfolio in the recent Cabinet reshuffle but her political clout is expected to secure greater funds from new Minister for Finance Mr Cowen when he announces his Budget in December.
But she warned that efficiencies were as important cash in addressing the crisis. "It's not all about money; it's about use of resources," she told reporters.
She said she had brought forward the date for the chief executive of the newly-created Health Services Executive Prof Aidan Halligan to take up his new position as part of a plan to make the health service more efficient.