Over €11million spent on agency staff in Wexford General Hospital in just three years
Over €11million spent on agency staff in Wexford General Hospital in just three years - The Labour Party
- €11,522,504 spent on agency staff in Wexford between 2023-2025
- Fraction of spend goes to actual workers for the agency
- Wasteful spend of taxpayers money demands answers from Government
Labour TD for Wexford George Lawlor has expressed his concern at massive overspend by the HSE on agency staff.
Following news that the HSE will pause recruitment, Deputy Lawlor called on the Minister for Health to carry out an in-depth review into agency spending across the country.
Deputy Lawlor said:
“In response to Parliamentary Questions put down by me, I can reveal that €5,034,376 was spent on agency nursing staff in Wexford General Hospital between 2023 to 2025. This is astronomical money that could have been invested in long-term, secure, good HSE jobs.
“Similarly, when I queried the spend on agency healthcare assistants, I have uncovered that €6,488,128 was spent in three years on agency healthcare assistants.
“That means that over the course of three years, €11,522,504 has been spent on agency staff in Wexford General Hospital alone. This strikes me as an extraordinary waste of money and resources. It represents a failure to properly plan and resource the workforce. It demands answers from the Minister for Health immediately. Can she and her cabinet colleagues stand over the manner in which we are equipping and funding our health service?
“There is deep dysfunction in how the HSE is running services in Wexford and I have no doubt that this pattern is replicated across the country. For too long, the HSE has relied on agencies to provide staffing rather than investing in secure jobs and hiring full time staff.
“The HSE pays an enormous premium on agency staff instead of hiring workers directly into the service. This pattern has continued for years and it is devastating our health service. We are paying above and beyond the odds for agency workers, and now we hear from the HSE that they want to further curtail recruitment. It simply doesn’t make sense.
“We are allowing the HSE to spend money as if we are a poor country that can’t afford to resolve these issues. That simply is not the case. There is a lack of vision from Fine Gael to address the systemic, long-term issues that plague our health service and it is the ordinary tax payer that is picking up the bill for their incompetence.”