Fine Gael has today claimed that the HSE's recruitment freeze is exacerbating the overcrowding problem in Ireland’s A&E units.

A protest at waiting times in Accident and Emergency units took place outside the Mater hospital in Dublin this afternoon.

The HSE tonight hit back at criticisms of plans to have patients admitted or discharged within six hours of arriving in an emergency department by the end of the year.

The Irish Nurses Organisation (INO) has described new targets for A&E waiting times as "unrealistic".

A British consultancy firm has reportedly advised the Health Service Executive to consider the possibility of charging families who "block" the discharge of elderly relatives from hospitals.

The Irish Nurses Organisation is to deliver thousands of postcards to the Tánaiste and Minister for Health Mary Harney today as part of its on-going campaign for action to tackle the A&E crisis.

A study commissioned by the Health Service Executive has reportedly found that many people attending A&E units around the country are doing so without first seeing a GP.

The Irish Nurses Organisation is demanding that the Minister for Health, Mary Harney, take immediate action to address the A&E crisis.

The Taoiseach has expressed dissatisfaction with the lack of a proper after-hours GP service countrywide.

Adverse publicity over continued overcrowding at accident and emergency units in the country’s hospitals could lead to the service being privatised, union leaders warned today.

The Irish Nurses Organisation has reported a new record number of people waiting on trolleys in A&E units across the country today.

The Tánaiste and Health Minister Mary Harney has rejected criticism of the Government's failure to tackle the ongoing A&E overcrowding crisis.

The Irish Nurses Organisation has said that overcrowding in A & E departments is sparking attacks against staff.

Three hundred and twenty-one patients were waiting on trolleys in accident and emergency departments across the country this morning, according to the Irish Nurses Organisation.

Hundreds of patients are still being forced to wait on trolleys in Ireland's accident and emergency departments, according to figures published by the Irish Nurses Organisation today.

Patients are lying on trolleys waiting for treatment in emergency wards while hospital beds lie vacant, the Labour Party claimed today.

The Health Service Executive has accused the Irish Nurses Organisation of making misleading claims about bed closures and accident and emergency overcrowding.

The Irish Nurses Organisation has criticised the Government's failure to reopen beds that have been lying in idle in Irish hospitals for years.

The Irish Hospital Consultants' Association has joined the Irish Nurses Organisation in condemning the Taoiseach's attempts to play down the A&E crisis.

The Irish Nurses Organisation has slammed attempts by the Taoiseach to play down the seriousness of the overcrowding crisis in accident and emergency departments.

The Irish Nurses Organisation has called on the Taoiseach, Bertie Ahern, to declare the ongoing problem of overcrowding in accident and emergency departments as a national emergency.

There are 215 people on trolleys in A&E units across the country this afternoon.

Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment Micheál Martin is expected to face tough questions about the scandal surrounding nursing home fees when he appears before the Oireachtas Health Committee today.

Nurses are due to continue their campaign of protests today to highlight the ongoing problem of A&E overcrowding and the Government's failure to address the situation.

Nurses have faced intimidation from some hospital bosses over their protests to highlight the state of accident and emergency awards, it was claimed today.

Nurses are due to continue their campaign of demonstrations today in protest at ongoing A&E overcrowding and the Government's failure to tackle the problem.

Tánaiste and Minister for Health Mary Harney today claimed it was her idea to use spare beds in a military hospital to relieve overcrowding in public hospitals.

A new €11m accident and emergency department has opened at Cork University Hospital today.

The Tánaiste and Minister for Health, Mary Harney, has confirmed that she is considering using a vacant Dublin military hospital in an effort to ease A&E overcrowding in the capital.

The Department of Defence is reportedly planning to make a 100-bed military hospital available to the health services in an effort to alleviate A&E overcrowding.

Three hundred and twenty patients were waiting on trolleys in accident and emergency departments throughout Ireland this morning, according to the Irish Nurses Organisation.

Nurses have called off a protest they planned for this Thursday out of respect for the late Pope John Paul II.

The on-going overcrowding crisis in Ireland's accident and emergency departments is expected to dominate the Irish Medical Organisation's annual conference, which gets underway in Killarney, Co Kerry, today.

The Irish Nurses Organisation (INO) has decided to go ahead with a series of lunchtime protests outside A&E hospital departments.

The Irish Nurses Organisation's executive council is due to meet later today to discuss the possibility of engaging in a series of protests over on-going problems in accident and emergency units.

A doubling in the number of influenza cases throughout the country has reportedly been blamed for the pressure on accident and emergency departments in recent days.

The situation in A&E departments in hospitals around the country is getting worse.

The Patients Together lobby group has accused the Government of failing to recognise the drastic effects that bed shortages are having on patients.

The Irish Nurses Organisation has expressed its growing frustration with ongoing overcrowding in accident and emergency departments throughout the country.

The Labour party is protesting outside the Mater Hospital today in response to what they are calling the Government's "inaction" in relation to the Accident and Emergency crisis.

Investigators probing the Columbia shuttle disaster say they are growing ever more certain that a damaged wing seal brought down the spacecraft, killing all seven astronauts on board.

Fine Gael health and children spokeswoman Olivia Mitchell TD has called for nursing home facilities to be used to ease the overcrowding crisis in the acute Dublin hospitals.

The Labour Relations Commission has convened an emergency meeting in an effort to avoid a nurses' strike due to overcrowding in accident and emergency departments in the eastern region.

The Irish Nurses Organisation has said it reserves the right to strike if LRC talks fail to resolve the accident and emergency crisis.