Dublin Fire Brigade complained yesterday that its ambulances were constantly "tied up" in queues outside hospitals, wasting valuable time and resources.
Fire officers expressed the fear that if a major emergency arose they would have difficulty freeing a vehicle to attend.
One of their ambulances had to queue for 4 1/2 hours outside the Mater Hospital yesterday morning as ambulance staff waited for beds to be made available. Difficulties have also been experienced, though less frequently, at Beaumont Hospital.
The situation has become critical in recent days as the spread of flu borders on an epidemic and puts more and more pressure on hospitals.
A representative of Dublin Corporation, which runs the fire service, confirmed that two ambulances were queuing outside the Mater Hospital from 7 a.m. to 11.30 a.m. and from 9.30 a.m. to 11.30 a.m. yesterday.
In a statement, the corporation said it was very concerned about these delays, which take ambulances out of service for hours. "The corporation and the Eastern Health Board have taken up the issue with the hospital management concerned to instigate protocols to avoid a recurrence of these delays," it said.
The Mater Hospital responded that it acknowledged the problem and was doing everything in its power to free beds and ambulance trolleys as quickly as possible, but unfortunately there were delays.
"We absolutely and totally understand and recognise that we have been holding ambulance trolleys, but if a patient comes in who is unable to sit on a chair, and all our trolleys are taken up, we have to keep the patient on the ambulance trolley until one becomes available," a spokeswoman said.
The hospital spokeswoman added that while nursing shortages had caused many beds at the hospital to be closed before Christmas, most of these had now reopened. However, many elderly people in particular were being admitted with respiratory problems, which had put severe pressure on the supply of beds.
"At 10 a.m. this morning we had 27 patients waiting to be admitted, and 23 of them were still waiting at lunchtime," she said.
"We totally appreciate the position of the ambulance staff. Of course, they have to get their ambulances back on the road as soon as possible, but unfortunately our hands are tied until beds become available. It is a Catch-22 situation."