Fine Gael said the report on A&E units was official confirmation of the safety risk associated with overcrowding, and if it had been written about a hotel it would be closed down.
The party's health spokesman, Dr Liam Twomey, said the concerns in the report were not new. "The report officially confirms the impact of record levels of overcrowding in our A&E departments but, to some extent, this is confirmation of what we already knew," he said. "It stands to reason that patients on trolleys in corridors, fire exits being blocked and reduced hygiene standards are going to lead to health and safety risks."
He said the issue was covered in the Tánaiste's 10-point €70 million plan for A&E services, announced on Estimates Day last November. This had proposed dedicated cleaning services and security measures for A&E units but had not been implemented.
He said the priority was overcrowding. "Long term, this is going to involve appropriate investment in primary care and, as a matter of urgency, more beds and more frontline staff."
Labour's health spokeswoman, Liz McManus, said the report "confirms what anyone who had to visit an A&E unit in recent times already knows - that the conditions have now reached crisis point and that immediate and urgent action is required to deal with them.
"It is a shocking indication of the conditions in our hospitals that the Health and Safety Authority has had to warn the public that those who go to A&E departments seeking treatment are actually being put at risk of injury, infection and violence."