There are almost 500 patients waiting for admission to hospital today.

The daily trolley watch from the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organistion shows 493 patients waiting for beds.

Three hundred and 74 of them are waiting on trolleys.

The hospitals with the worst overcrowding are St Vincent’s University Hospital in Dublin with 43 and Naas General Hospital with 38.

It comes as talks continue at the Workplace Relations Commission on a plan to deal with the overcrowding crisis in Emergency Departments.