A crisis in Dublin's accident and emergency departments last night resulted in pleas to the public to stay away unless they were seriously ill or injured.
Over the past week, the emergency departments have had to cope with a large number of patients and the situation became particularly bad over the weekend.
The backlog has been leading to long waits for admissions as there have been no spare beds available, with hospitals working to 100 percent capacity.
The crisis has also led to non-emergency procedures and surgery - elective surgery - being deferred in many of the hospitals.
Last night, the Eastern Regional Health Authority appealed to the public not to attend A&E departments unless absolutely necessary.
An ERHA spokesperson said: "Staff are stretched and people who are not seriously ill or injured will face long delays if they go to their local A&E. In addition, they may cause delays in treating people who really need to be there." The appeal was last night reiterated by a spokeswoman for the Minister for Health, Mr Martin, who said this situation occurred every year at this time.
She added that 70 per cent of all admission to hospitals were through the A&E.
In Tallaght Hospital yesterday evening, 28 patients who had received treatment were awaiting admission. Another 40 patients were waiting to be seen in A&E. A spokeswoman said: "We don't even have the beds in the hospital and we have more people waiting to be seen so we just can't take any more admissions."
At the Mater Hospital, a spokeswoman said the situation had been dreadful that morning with more than 30 people waiting to be admitted from A&E and others waiting for treatment. "The situation has been bad for a good period now. The weather has not helped and there is usually a problem in winter. I imagine it will continue for a few weeks yet," she said.
At Beaumont A&E last night, more than 30 patients were awaiting admission. They had been assessed but there were still others to be seen in the department. A spokesman said it was always a bad time, "but for some reason it seems to be particularly severe this year".
At St James's A&E, 26 people were waiting for admission. It was very busy with others waiting to be treated and elective surgery is being deferred. At St Vincent's Hospital, the exceptionally busy weekend led to the acquisition of a five-day ward, which would normally be used for patients having elective surgery, for use as an admissions ward for A&E.
Hospital sources cited the lack of community or step-down beds as part of the problem. Many patients, they said, were well enough to go to convalescent homes and nursing homes but there was a lack of beds in this area.