Tallaght Hospital in Dublin has cancelled non-urgent elective surgeries due to overcrowding.

The hospital, which has the biggest emergency department in the country, says it has been under "sustained pressure" over the past number of days.

It says this is due to a 10% increase in overall adult emergency department attendances with a 22% increase in patients over 75 years of age compared to the same period last year.

It also says the hospital has a higher than normal number of delayed discharges, which it says is further reducing available bed capacity.

"The hospital is actively working with its community partners to expedite discharges to appropriate facilities where available", it says in a statement.

It has activated its full capacity protocol with non-urgent elective activity cancelled, all escalation beds in use, rapid access to diagnostics in situ and additional consultant ward discharge rounds ongoing.

Restricted visiting is also in place as part of infection control measures, and the demand for isolation beds is another contributory factor in delays.

Hospital management is asking the public to avoid making any unnecessary visits to its emergency department, and to attend their GP in the first instance.