The HSE says it can't confirm if anyone has lost their life because of the crisis in the health service.
It says the overcrowding situation is completely unacceptable but admits words are meaningless to those affected.
An Oireachtas Health Committee meeting was held this morning. In the past two weeks the national ambulance service has received record call outs. There have been 9 days alone when they received more than 2 thousand calls a day.
The HSE says the flu, RSV and covid are placing exceptional pressure on GPS and hospitals. Senator Annie Hoey says there are fears people are losing their lives as a result.
The head of the HSE Stephen Mulvany had this response.
''We know that there is a level in every health system of preventable and avoidable harm so we cant be sure on that actual figure, what could you say to anyone who was caught up in that only that it's completely unacceptable.''
And as 561 people lie on trolleys this afternoon, Mr Mulvaney insisted the HSE had been planning for a difficult Winter - but said the current situation is at the more pessimistic end.
