Health unions have triggered a clause in the deal they agreed with the HSE in March that requires a review of the organisation’s staffing arrangements, after it said there were 6,000 confirmed vacancies remaining across the service.
The two sides will meet at the Workplace Relations Commission next Friday for talks about the issue.
The deal struck at the end of March, which led to the cancellation of planned industrial action by five unions representing some 80,000 staff in the sector, included renewed commitments by the HSE to reduce the organisation’s reliance on agency workers, to progress the filling of vacancies more quickly and to make “every effort” to cover maternity leave taken by staff.
This was all to be done within the confines of the HSE’s own ceiling on staff numbers. And the agreement did not require any additional spending by the employer side.
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However, the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation (INMO) said large numbers of maternity leaves continue to be uncovered.
The document provided a provision for a scheduled review of progress and a clause allowing the unions to trigger an earlier assessment of progress if they believed the HSE was not implementing what was agreed. The group of unions, which includes the five unions but also Siptu and others, has now taken that action.
“The INMO believes that the HSE is in breach of this agreement by imposing significant restrictions on recruitment across each health region,” said INMO general secretary Phil Ní Sheaghdha on Friday.
“A core tenet of this agreement was to ensure that maternity leave was backfilled; this is not happening. In one region, the midwest, more than 124 whole-time equivalent nursing and midwifery posts are vacant due to maternity leave. Only six of these posts have been backfilled.
“To date in 2025, the HSE has increased the nursing and midwifery workforce by just 469 whole-time posts, a stark contrast to the average annual growth of 1,800 WTEs [whole-time equivalents] over the past five years. This is truly shocking and dangerous for patient safety.
“The INMO is determined that the HSE honour the agreement made with its employees in full.”
At the time the agreement was signed in March, HSE chief executive Bernard Gloster said it was significant that the unions had accepted the organisation’s right to place a ceiling on staff numbers as part of its budgetary process. He also said that after numbers had grown by more than 20 per cent in the previous five years, the ceiling would remain unchanged in the current year.
The INMO, however, said safe staffing levels set out independently are not being met, something that puts patients and its members at risk.
The HSE confirmed it would engage with the union at the WRC on Friday.
