New Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation figures show over 53 thousand people were on trolleys this year.
Over 30,000 of those were recorded since the COVID-19 virus arrived in this country.
The hospitals with the highest overall figures included University Hospital Limerick with 9,843 and Cork University Hospital with 6,503.
In the South East, St. Luke Hospital in Kilkenny had 1,914 people on trolleys this year while there was 1,649 in South Tipperary General Hospital
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University Hospital Waterford recorded a figure of 910 while Wexford General Hospital had 704 patients on trolleys
The INMO says such overcrowding poses an infection control risk which the union is describing as "unacceptable".
