The HSE will set out its plan today for tackling hospital overcrowding this winter.
Extra beds and more homecare packages are expected to be among the measures.
The number of people on hospital trolleys reached 679 on one day last week - the second highest so far this year.
Today, 571 patients are waiting for beds, with the worst-affected hospitals being University Hospital Limerick (62), University Hospital Galway (44) and Cork University Hospital (38).
The Health Minister has accepted the numbers waiting for a bed has been far too high recently.
€26m has already been allocated to the HSE for its winter plan to address what should be a busy few months.
Extra beds and more homecare packages to make sure people can be discharged faster from hospitals are expected to be among the measures announced this morning.
