People living next to A&E departments will tomorrow receive postcards on which they can give their views on A&E overcrowding to Minister for Health Mary Harney.
The Irish Nurses Organisation (INO) has arranged for the postcards to be delivered to thousands of homes adjacent to some of the most consistently overcrowded A&E Departments around the country as part of its "Enough is Enough" campaign.
Completed postcards can be returned freepost to the INO, who will arrange to have them delivered directly to the Minister in the Department of Health and Children.
INO general secretary Liam Doran said the postcard campaign was implemented at the request of patients and their relatives to allow them express their own personal views of their experience in overcrowded A&E departments.
"A&E overcrowding, resulting in ill people being left on trolleys for extended periods, continues to worsen and should be of concern to everyone living in Ireland. This postal drop, in areas immediately adjacent to hospitals enduring severe overcrowding, offers the public the opportunity to express their anger and frustration on the matter.
"This problem can be solved, over a period of time, providing the government agrees to, and commits funding for, the additional bed capacity required," Mr Doran said.