Hospital consultants are warning that the HSE is poorly prepared to meet extra demand for hospital beds over Christmas.
The Irish Hospital Consultant's Association has said the HSE's Winter Plan, announced last week, is "too late and too limited".
IHCA Secretary General, Martin Varley, has said the country's public hospitals could be facing an extremely damaging crisis in the New Year which could last for months.
Mr Varley said: "It's providing 75 acute beds over a six-month period, that's inadequate when you take into context that last week each day you had 300 to 500 patients who are admitted to hospital awaiting a hospital bed and being treated on trollies.
"So with the 75 hospital beds last week, you will still have 200 to 300 patients on trollies."
