Significant interest in HSE redundancy scheme

Almost 1,000 HSE workers have already expressed interest in the organisation's redundancy and retirement packages.

Some senior managers are set to scoop deals of up to €300,000 under the schemes, which seek to obtain a total of 5,000 voluntary redundancies or early retirements.

Some €400m has been set aside by the Department of Finance to cover the cost of the schemes.

But unions have raised concerns the cutbacks in staff numbers could lead to patient care being compromised