There's been an 18 per cent increase in overcrowding at the region's main hospital in the past year.
However, figures released by the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation show a 25 per cent drop in the number of people waiting on trolleys at University Hospital Limerick in December, compared to the same period last year.
7,288 people were waiting on trolleys at University Hosptial Limerick between January and December last year, a rise of over 1,100 on 2014.
This represents a marked increase in overcrowding at the Dooradoyle facility compared to the previous year, with over 5,500 people waiting for beds in 2013.
Despite this, there were 154 fewer people waiting on trolleys in December than the same month in 2014, a 25 per cent reduction.
The figures from the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation come just months after University Hospital Limerick published its Winter Resilliance Plan which aims to limit trolley numbers to eight per day.
Unprecendented numbers attended the hospital's emergency department last week, leading to waiting times of up to eighteen hours but this week has seen a significant drop in trolley numbers, with only five waiting yesterday.
Today's figures show a 300 per cent rise in overcrowding over a ten year period and come as nurses are being balloted over new proposals aimed at tackling overcrowding in Emergency Departments.
