Senior health officials have widely acknowledged that staffing levels are short of what is required to meet the increased demand. In 2022, the HSE developed a workforce plan for the service, which set out end-of-year annual targets for recruitment. Last year, the workforce plan had a goal of 4,162 posts, but just 2,547 were approved. Robert Morton, director of the service, said progress against the 2022 workforce plan “remains dependent on the availability of new service development funding in each year and the prevailing employment controls in place in each year”. “The HSE National Service Plan (NSP) in the current year provides for additional resources as part of planned new service developments in 2026,” he said.

Source: The Irish Times April 09, 2026 18:28 UTC