The Irish Nurses Organisation claimed today that the level of overcrowding in A&E departments in Irish hospitals has become "significantly worse" in the past year.
The Organisation says its own figures show there were more than 300 people waiting on trolleys in hospitals each day this month.
INO General Secretary, Liam Doran: "Regardless of all of the arguments and statements to the contrary, everyone, except the various, and numerous, layers of management, accepts that A&E overcrowding is getting worse, not better.
Mr Doran said: "Frontline staff, and patients, cannot and should not, be left, on a daily basis, in overcrowded environments with all layers of management effectively denying the extent of the problem."
But the Health Service Executive said today the resolution of A&E pressures as one of its key priorities.
It said a new purpose built emergency department for St Vincent's Hospital in Dublin was completed in mid January and has "greatly enhanced both the quality of care and the experience of patients and visitors to the hospital."
The Executive said a new 33 bed transit Unit at the Mater Hospital also in Dublin was reducing the numbers of patients awaiting admission from its emergency department.
It said: "As part of HSE's ongoing work to address A&E pressures, over 1000 people have been successfully transferred from acute hospitals to either their own homes with packages of home care, or to appropriate nursing home or long stay care."
Liz McManus TD, Labour Party spokeswoman on health, said the Minister for Health Mary Harney was constantly looking to pass the buck. "This situation is simply intolerable, both for those seeking treatment and for hard-pressed staff who have to try and cope with the chaos," she said. "When it comes to this crisis there is no political leadership."