Nurses at the region's main hospital are to be balloted on industrial action.
Siptu members are to consider action including work stoppages of up to eight hours in protest over the level of overcrowding at University Hospital Limerick.
Siptu, which represents around 300 staff at University Hospital Limerick is to ballot its members for industrial action in response to levels of overcrowding which it says is spiralling out of control.
Members are to considering action include a work-to-rule and work stoppages of up to eight hours.
It comes following a sharp rise in overcrowding at the Dooradoyle facility this week with 50 people were waiting on beds yesterday, 26 of those in the Emergency Department.
A spokesperson for Siptu has claimed that management at the hospital have refused to meet them.
But in a statement to Clare FM, UL Hospitals Group says it "engages on a continuous basis with both Siptu and the INMO" and that they "are always available to meet with Siptu in relation to staffing".
The hospital says a number of measures have been taken to ease overcrowding including the hiring of additional staff and the provision of 40 additional beds, while a new state-of-the-art ED, which will be triple the size is on course to be opened in 2017.
UL Hospitals Group insists that it "regrets that any patient is facing long waits for a bed during this busy period".
