656 patients waiting on trolleys, chairs or in corridors for hospital bed

According to the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation (INMO), the daily headcount has soared past record levels hit this time last year and it is only the fourth time the numbers on the trolley watch exceeded the 600 mark.

It recorded 656 people waiting for a bed in the country's hospitals.

The worst hospitals are St Luke's Hospital, Kilkenny, with 57 patients waiting; University Hospital Limerick with 55; South Tipperary General Hospital with 45; and Cork University Hospital with 38.

The INMO said its headcount found 460 people waiting on trolleys and 196 in wards waiting for beds.

January typically sees the highest numbers on the trolley watch as the flu virus peaks and leads to increased demand for in-patient services on the already under pressure hospital system.

Billy Kelleher, Fianna Fail health spokesman, said the numbers on trolleys are a damning indictment of the Government.

"The figures released today are truly extraordinary and paint a very vivid picture of just how dire the overcrowding crisis in our hospitals has become," he said.

Mr Kelleher claimed the winter initiative by Health Minister Simon Harris and the Health Service Executive was failing miserably.

"The Government's mismanagement of this issue is now being blatantly exposed. Every January we see a significant spike in trolley figures, but today's stats are record breaking," he said.