There are 660 people deemed to require admission to hospital waiting for a bed in emergency departments or on wards across the country on Tuesday, nurses have said.
The Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation (INMO) said the hospital worst hit by overcrowding was University Hospital Limerick where 75 patients were waiting for a bed.
The INMO said at Cork University Hospital there were 60 patients deemed by doctors to need admission queuing for a bed in the emergency department or on wards.
At the Mater Hospital in Dublin and at University Hospital Galway there were 39 patients waiting for a bed on Tuesday, the INMO said.
It reported that overall on Tuesday 455 were waiting in the emergency department in hospitals while 205 were in wards elsewhere in the hospitals.
Recent weeks have seen a surge in overcrowding levels in public hospitals across the country.
On Monday the INMO said there were 85 patients without beds at University Hospital Limerick – the highest figure ever recorded in an Irish hospital in a single day.
