Flu season expected to peak this week

The outbreak has added pressure to hospital Emergency Departments leaving hundreds of patients on trolleys around the country.

HSE's National Director of Emergency Management Damien McCallion said the Executive is trying to address urgent issues as soon as possible.

"They're unacceptable, they shouldn't happen and certainly we want to address the current issues that are there as quickly as we can," he said.

"In terms of the period prior to Christmas, we had managed to reduce the trollies through two main actions - some investment in the period of October-December, and secondly trying to really focus on what we call 'patient flow' which is trying to ensure the system works for patients," he added.