Latest: Many hospitals 'entirely dependent' on stand-in doctors who begin strike over pay cuts

Latest: A spokesperson for the Irish Association of Emergency Medicine has said that the HSE "didn't seem to care much about the impact" of the wildcat strikes at emergency departments.

Update - 10.40am: A spokesperson for the Irish Association of Emergency Medicine has said that the HSE "didn't seem to care much about the impact" of the wildcat strikes at emergency departments.

Strikes by locum doctors could close at least six hospital emergency departments in Navan, Naas, Limerick, Portlaoise and Dublin.

The stand-in doctors are unhappy their pay has been cut from €40 to €34 an hour and are refusing to turn up for shifts today.

The HSE directive to cap the pay of locum doctors took effect on September 1.

Irish Association of Emergency Medicine spokesman, Fergal Hickey, told Newstalk Breakfast: "We should only be using locum staff to cover unforeseen circumstances - sick leave, bereavement leave or some such - but instead we have a system which is entirely dependent in many hospitals on locum staff and that is fundamentally wrong.

"That is a matter for the HSE to fix, and they failed to fix it.

"Instead they bring in, at short notice, a change in the way things are done without doing any risk assessment.

"So we have a situation where they would have thought that this was going to have no impact - or if they did think it was going to have an impact, they didn't seem to care much about the impact.

"And yet, potentially, a number of emergency departments will close".

The association adds that its concerns are based "on the safety implications of rosters that are missing doctors which puts at risk the safety of patients attending (emergency departments)".

Earlier: Emergency departments in at least six hospitals around the country have been hit by unofficial action by locum doctors.

The stand-in medics have been failing to show up for their shifts, in protest at a reduction in their pay.

The Irish Association of Emergency Medicine has said the action is set to spread to other hospitals nationwide.

Association spokesperson Fergal Hickey admits that patients are likely to suffer as a result.

"Where we don't have the bed capacity to be able to admit in a timely fashion and then to be presented with having the problem of not having enough doctors to see them, is only going to make the situation worse," he said.

"Unfortunately, it risks patient safety which is why the Irish Association of Emergency medicine has brought this to attention."