The Fine Gael leader, Mr Michael Noonan, has described north Dublin's hospital services as "abysmal", vowing to make health the major issue in the next general election.
Mr Noonan said services at the Beaumont and Mater Hospitals were "at breaking point" and said the Government had "lost control" of the health services.
He said waiting lists at both hospitals were up 45 per cent in the last three years, while almost 60 per cent of those waiting remained on lists longer than the Department of Health's target time. He criticised the "decline in public hospital beds for older patients, even though the population aged 65 and over on the northside has grown by 20 per cent in the last decade".
Mr Noonan said one in six patients remained in the casualty department for more than 24 hours.
"Thirty per cent of urgent cases in casualty cannot be seen within four hours," he said.
Meanwhile, Ms Maureen Browne, the Eastern Regional Health Authority's (ERHA) director of communications, said it was "quite inaccurate" to allege that waiting lists for admission to the Beaumont and Mater Hospitals had increased by 45 per cent in the last three years.
She said the ERHA had been informed by Beaumont that waiting lists had declined by more than 10 per cent in the period.
The Mater had told ERHA that waiting lists had risen by 1.8 per cent between August 1991 and August 2001 and a number of initiatives were underway to reduce them.
Ms Browne said it was also incorrect to state that there had been a decline in public hospital beds for older patients in Dublin's Northside.