There's been a cautious welcome for a decision to expand opening hours at Ennis General Hospital.
However, there is also a warning that it's only a small part of a range of measures needed to tackle Emergency Department overcrowding.
The Medical Assessment at Ennis General Hospital opened in 2013.
It gives access to treatment to patients who are referred by their GPs with certain symptoms.
The facility is currently open five days a week, but UL Hospitals Group says that from next month it will also be open at weekends.
Opening hours at the Unit in Nenagh is also set to be extended from this summer.
It comes as new figures from the INMO show there are 23 patients on trolleys at UHL today, 11 of those in the Emergency Department.
Head of the UL Hospitals Group Colette Cowan is hopeful the changes will help ease the pressure on the Dooradoyle facility, which has been among the most overcrowded in the country in recent months.
Independent Ennis Councillor Anne Norton is welcoming the news, as she and other have campaigned to have more treatment provided in Ennis.
However Councillor Norton insists this measure alone is not enough to significantly reduce trolley numbers.
Meanwhile, recruitment is already underway for the region's main Accident and Emergency Department, even though it won't be open for nearly a year.
The UL Hosptials group has again insisted that the timeline for opening the new facility in Dooradoyle cannot be moved forward.
However, they say it is on track to begin taking patients during the first quarter of next year.
Colette Cowan says preparations are ongoing.
