November was the worst month on record for hospital overcrowding, according to the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation.
The INMO says nine thousand six hundred and seventy nine patients were forced to wait on trolleys and chairs for beds, the highest number since records began in 2006.
It says University Hospital Limerick was one of the worst hit with 1 thousand and seventy one patients on trolleys in November, twice the eqivalent of the county's total bed capacity.
Five other hospitals had over 5 hundred patients on trolleys in Cork, Galway, Letterkenny, Tallaght and Tullamore.