Families of patients who have had to endure days on trolleys in hospital A&E departments are to protest outside the Dáil this afternoon.
The protest was planned yesterday when the numbers of patients on trolleys in hospitals across the State climbed to over 180.
Although the situation was worst at hospitals in the Dublin region, Galway's University College Hospital had to cancel some elective surgery as a result of pressure on its A&E unit, where there were seven patients on trolleys.
At Wexford General Hospital there were 12 patients on trolleys. There were also patients on trolleys in Cork, Limerick, Cavan and Drogheda.
Dr Aidan Gleeson, an A&E consultant at Dublin's Beaumont Hospital, said it was outrageous that the problems in A&E were being allowed to continue.
He said the basic problem was a lack of beds in hospitals and although the Government promised more, they weren't coming on stream quickly enough.