There are currently 566 nursing vacancies in the State, with hospitals in Dublin facing the greatest difficulties in filling positions, an Oireachtas Joint Committee has been told.
Officials from the Department of Health and Children told the Joint Committee on Health and Children that Beaumont Hospital currently had 60 nursing vacancies, the Mater Hospital had 67, St Vincent's had 44 and the Daughters of Charity Hospital on the Navan Road had 63 positions unfilled.
The secretary-general of the Department, Mr Jerry O'Dwyer, said, "Investment in hospitals and the development of regional specialities over recent years have increased demand for nurses outside the Dublin area.
"Within Dublin, issues such as housing costs, traffic problems and lack of car-parking facilities or car-parking restrictions have been cited as disincentives to the recruitment and retention of nurses."
It was disclosed that of the 566 vacancies, some 134 were in the areas of mental disability and psychiatric nursing.
Mr O'Dwyer said that to address this "difficulty" a marketing campaign had been launched to bolster the image of such jobs.
He said low pay in the sector was not a "predominant factor" in the number of vacancies.
Also appearing before the committee were officials from the Health Service Employers' Agency, who said the large number of vacancies did "not necessarily impinge on the provision of quality care."
They added that health employment agencies were able to provide a large number of nurses to hospitals trying to fill vacancies.
The officials also presented a report on research into the reasons people left their nursing posts in hospitals.
This found that 21.3 per cent of respondents left because they relocated outside Dublin.
Some 17 per cent said they left because they went abroad, while 7.5 per cent left because they got married.