Taoiseach Enda Kenny has said he is disappointed at the decision by emergency department nurses to strike from next month.

“Strike will not assist a single patient on any trolley or in any accident and emergency unit or, indeed, in any hospital,’’ he added.

Mr Kenny said while the outcome of the vote by the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation (INMO) was expected, industrial action would not sort out the challenges being faced.

He said he accepted there were challenges in the health system, not least in the accident and emergency departments.

Mr Kenny told the Dáil on Tuesday the number of people on trolleys was 20 per cent lower than on the same day last year.

Overcrowding lower

Figures produced by the nurses themselves accepted that overcrowding was slightly lower than it was this time last year, he added.

Fianna Fáil leader Micheál Martin said morale was at an all-time low in emergency departments around the country because of the record levels of people on trolleys.

Sinn Féin leader Gerry Adams said there had been a series of shocking revelations about what was going on in hospitals.

Independent TD Michael Fitzmaurice said the dispute should be sorted out urgently.