"Irish Patients Association has called for delays in patient care to be treated with the same urgency by the Emergency Department Taskforce as the Government has treated the extreme weather this week. Stephen McMahon of the Irish Patients Association said waiting lists were linked to overcrowding in emergency departments as operations are cancelled to make room for urgent cases. “There has been very little progress this year on weighted waiting times,” he said. "The national weather emergency team meets daily during bad weather vs very infrequent meetings [of the taskforce] for the winter emergency department overcrowding. Who is responsible for this?”