Officials begin talks on health board job cuts

The Department of Health and the Western Health Board have begun talks about a controversial round of job cuts announced earlier this month.

The WHB announced plans to slash 200 jobs after being ordered to reduce spending by the Department of Health.

However, Health Minister Micheal Martin subsequently said that the requested savings could have been achieved by cutting just 85 jobs.

Speaking on her way into today’s talks, Dr Sheila Ryan, the chief executive of the health board, said she is looking forward to clearing up the issue.