A 73-year-old woman with heart and lung problems has been on a trolley in the Mater Hospital in Dublin for the past five days, it has been claimed.
The Labour Party's Dublin Central TD Joe Costello said the woman had lain on a trolley in the Mater's A&E unit since last Wednesday.
"On top of this, there are ambulances parked outside which are being used to treat patients who cannot get a bed or a trolley in the A&E unit. The entire situation is a mess," Mr Costello said.
He claimed the situation was evidence that the Tánaiste's 10-point plan for A&E units was "having no effect whatsoever".
"For months, I have been campaigning to have the overcrowding at the Mater addressed but the Tánaiste, and the Taoiseach, in whose constituency the Mater is, haven't provided a single solution."
"Minister Harney has made much of her so-called ten-point plan to deal with the crisis in Accident and Emergency but there isn't much evidence of it today in the Mater Hospital. I am appealing to the Taoiseach and the Tanaiste to stop ignoring these problems and give people in pain and distress some relief from this nightmare."
According to the Irish Nurses' Organisation, some 246 people are on trolleys today in hospitals throughout the State.
Some 164 people are being treated on trolleys in Dublin's hospitals and a further 82 patients are on trolleys in A&E units outside the capital.
The highest number of patients on trolleys is at Beaumont hospital in Dublin, where 32 people are currently in this situation.
St Columcille's Hospital has 27 patients on trolleys and Tallaght has 27. Cork University Hospital is currently treating 19 patients on trolleys, while there are 14 and 12 people on trolleys at Our Lady of Lourdes and Cavan hospitals respectively.