Health Minister James Reilly has said there is no crisis in the country's hospital emergency departments.

He was responding in the Dail to claims by Waterford Independent TD John Halligan about a crisis in the local regional hospital's ED.

Deputy Halligan said the public had been asked not to use the ED in Waterford due to overcrowding, trolleys containing sick people had been 'double-parked' in the ED corridors and two Indian doctors posts to the ED had resigned.

The Minister, in response, said there was no crisis in the country's accident and emergency departments.

He said there had been a 34% reduction in the number of patients waiting on trolleys since he became Minister in March 2011, despite a 10% reduction in staff and a 20% reduction in the budget.

Deputy Halligan said it was not the case that there had been a reduciton in the use of trolleys in hospital EDs.

According to figures from the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation (INMO) there were 237 patients on trolleys in hospital EDs around the country yesterday, and a further 38 on trolleys in wards.

There were eight patients on ED trolleys on Waterford Hospital yesterday, while there were 12 on trolleys there last Thursday.

Referring to the recent letter from hospital CEOs warning that health cuts could threaten patient safety, Minister Reilly told the Dail he was not aware of untoward delays in the treatment of cancer patients in adult hospitals.

However, he expressed concern about reports of such delays in Our Lady's Children's Hospital in Crumlin,  and said he had asked for an investigation into this.