With almost 559,000 patients waiting for their first hospital outpatient appointment, it is clear that the health authorities never got on top of the issue, says patient advocate, Stephen McMahon.

The patient in the Republic is male, in the east of the country and "associated with travel" from northern Italy.

The first case of coronavirus has been confirmed in the North in a patient who travelled via Dublin on their way home from Italy.

Almost 557,000 patients are waiting for a first hospital consultation and thousands more have joined the queue over the last two months, it has emerged.

Aaron O’Brien bagged a brace of tries at Donnybrook to give St Mary’s College a deserved 21-15 triumph over Gonzaga College in the Leinster Schools Junior Cup first round.

Last year was the worst-ever year for hospital overcrowding, an analysis by the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation (INMO) reveals.

Crumlin Children’s Hospital in Dublin is dealing with more flu cases, respiratory viruses, and the winter vomiting bug.

Private as well as public health services will have to disclose serious patient safety incidents under planned legislation expected to come before the Dáil within weeks.

There were 363 data-protection breaches recorded by the HSE in the first ten months of this year.

This morning there were 577 people are waiting on trolleys across the country today, according to the INMO's daily Trolley Watch figures.

The message is being highlighted on European Antibiotic Awareness Day today.

Urgent action must be taken to achieve a major reduction in public hospital waiting lists, patient advocate, Stephen McMahon, has said.

There is €26m for a winter plan to deal with emergency department overcrowding in acute public hospitals, Simon Harris, the health minister, has confirmed.

Once upon a time, we put our unquestioning trust in our doctors, in our healthcare service. But a revolution has been happening, quietly, unstoppable.

The number of patients waiting to see a hospital consultant has reached a new record high of almost 570,000.

Seven acute hospitals had 30 or more admitted patients waiting for a bed today and the worst-hit hospital was University Hospital Limerick with 76 waiting.

Cork University Hospital has blamed a "large number of very ill patients requiring admission" for delays which saw 68 admitted patients on trolleys in its emergency department and elsewhere in the hospital today.

It was the worst ever July for hospital overcrowding, with 9,439 admitted patients waiting for a bed, according to the latest monthly analysis from the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation.

Ministers have expressed full confidence in Simon Harris over the latest CervicalCheck controversy impacting 800 women.

The Government is facing claims of going “back to the future” by announcing plans to scrap the overarching HSE and replace it with six regional health structures which mirror the health boards ditched 15 years ago.

The Minister for Health, Simon Harris, is set to bring proposals to Cabinet on Wednesday.

A 24-hour stoppage looks set to go ahead after talks between SIPTU, the HSE and Department of Public Expenditure at the Workplace Relations Commission yesterday failed to reach an agreement.

Latest waiting list figures from the National Treatment Purchase Fund show that they continued to climb this month, reaching 558,484 last week.

Access to health services based on need should be a constitutional right, the Irish Patients' Association has urged.

Latest: Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has played down concerns about the highest hospital trolley numbers this year amid warnings patients are fearful of attending emergency units.

Up to 500 ambulance staff nationwide are to hold a fifth strike tomorrow in a stand-off with the HSE over their right to be represented by a trade union of their choice.

Just one in five health and social care workers has been formally briefed on the HSE’s open disclosure policy, and only one in 25 has attended a training workshop — five years after patients were assured the policy would be standard practice.

Almost 8,000 patients were stuck on trolleys waiting for a hospital bed in the worst August on record for overcrowding.

Up to 5,000 patients are to be informed that they have been exposed to a dangerous superbug.

One year on from becoming Taoiseach, Leo Varadkar’s popularity has increased, but several major issues threaten his reign, writes Political Correspondent Elaine Loughlin.

The Government is “open to” changing legislation to guarantee any investigation into the cervical screening scandal is carried out in public.

The HSE has been unable to clarify which of the laboratories it contracts to process cervical smears produced inaccurate test results in relation to 206 women.