HSE spent more than €92m hiring agency staff last year

MORE than €92 million was spent on agency staff by the Health Service Executive (HSE) last year, figures obtained by Fine Gael show.

The party’s spokesman on health and deputy leader Dr James Reilly said the incredibly high spend exposed false economies in health service budgeting.

Fine Gael TD from Mayo, John O’Mahony, who obtained the figures, said it was clear that the recruitment ban in the health service was keeping the spend on agency staff excessively high.