HSE spend on agency staff nearly doubles in four years

Taoiseach Simon Harris said that there is a target of a two-thirds reduction in agency staff in 2025

Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald said that the Government should have instead used the money to fund permanent nursing posts, saying that it could have allowed for the hiring of more than 2,000 nurses. File photo

The amount of money being spent on agency staff by the HSE has almost doubled in the last four years.

Figures provided to Sinn Féin’s health spokesperson David Cullinane show that in 2019 the HSE spent €349m on agency staff. However, at the end of 2023, this had ballooned to €647m — an increase of 85%.