A review by the Economic and Social Research Institute has found that between 3,200 and 5,600 extra public hospital beds will be needed by 2030.

The ESRI said that the Irish hospital system does not have enough hospital beds to meet demand and that at the lower end, 3,200 more public beds would be required.

It said the Government's National Development Plan commitment is to increase public acute bed capacity by 2,600 in the years to 2027.

The Government published a Bed Capacity Review in January.

It recommended between 2,000 and 2,500 extra beds, if health reforms contained in the ten-year all-party SláinteCare Report are implemented.

But it said that if the health reforms were not implemented and if the status quo remained, then up to 9,000 extra beds would be needed.

The ESRI has said the 2,500 planned extra beds may not be sufficient to meet demand.

Overall, the review has projected that Ireland will need between an extra 4,000 and 6,300 beds when both public and private bed capacity is considered.

The ESRI said these increases are due to the large projected growth and ageing of the population in the coming years.