Nurses appear to be on a collision course with the Health Minister over the latest hospital overcrowding crisis.

Leo Varadkar last night said that two extra beds should be placed on hospital wards as it was safer than having up to 40 people on trolleys in Emergency Departments.

However the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation disagrees.

Spokesperson Liam Doran told Jonathan Healy that it has already been proven not to work:

Last night, the Health Minister said the current hospital overcrowding crisis is shameful.

Speaking on The Right Hook, Leo Varadkar's admitted the situation could worsen in the next few weeks.

“The second week of January is usually the worst. In the third week of January the junior doctors change over and that makes it a very difficult time in hospitals ... we probably have not seen the worst of it," he said.

The Minister agreed with presenter Shane Coleman’s assertion that the situation is “shameful”.

Here is the interview in full: