The increase in the number of cases of sexually transmitted diseases is putting pressure on hospital clinics.
Dr Fiona Mulcahy said the Genito-Urinary Medicine Clinic at St James's was "absolutely swamped". A lack of physical space in the clinic meant specific clinics had to be arranged on certain days to see different types of patients, Dr Mulcahy said. There is one clinic for general infectious diseases a week in St James's, two for HIV and 10 STD clinics.
"The ideal situation would be to have an HIV clinic every day," Dr Mulcahy said. She also said the clinic needed two more consultants and ideally should have its own building.
Although another consultant was appointed to the clinic in January, the rise in STD cases has meant they are still unable to meet demands, she added.
People wishing to see a doctor regarding an STD were put on a waiting list of four weeks and this may cause the spread of infection, according to Dr Mulcahy.
"From a public health perspective it's outrageous . . . Four weeks later they are found either unwell or at risk of passing on the infection," she said.
Dr Mulcahy said there was also pressure being put on the clinic to see a limited number of patients. "The mind-set is a problem. You are told you are funded to see a catchment area, when you've seen your limit you have to stop seeing more."
However, Dr Mulcahy said, she would find it difficult as a doctor to turn away people from the clinic.
"Do you say you are not going to see any more HIV patients and you are only going to see so many STD patients per year? Or do you try and cater to the needs of the community?"
Dr Gerard Sheehan, who is the only consultant in sexually transmitted diseases working in both the Mater Hospital and Beaumont Hospital, said the hospitals needed two consultants each.
He said people who came to his clinics without an appointment have to queue for some time to be seen. The fear was that some would leave and not return.
"If somebody decides to go you really need to deal with it then," he said. He also had a lack of space at his clinic in the Mater Hospital. "We could increase intake if we had more space but we don't," he said.
Dr Horgan at the STD clinic in Cork University Hospital said the new cases have also put pressure on its services. "It's gotten an awful lot busier with new people coming in with diseases," he said.