Huge amounts of public money going to private companies in Cork hospitals

09:03, 26 Aug 2026Updated 10:47, 26 Aug 2026

Nurse at work(Image: Irish Mirror)

Staffing shortages in the health care system across Cork were a major driver in the more than €50m that has been spent on private agency staff over the past year and a half.

And one Cork TD is now calling for an urgent look at the use of agency staff, and the significant amounts of public money going to private companies in healthcare facilities across Munster.

Recruitment has been an issue for the HSE and healthcare providers in general, and the HSE is heavily dependent on staff coming from abroad to work in our healthcare system, with some 12,000 non-nationals now employed nationwide and filling what would otherwise be serious gaps in care.

Sinn Féin TD for Cork North Central, Thomas Gould, has today called for an evaluation of the use of agency staff in Cork hospitals and primary care centres. His comments come as figures released to him by the HSE show that €33,921,662 was spent in 2025 and €17,360,178 to date in 2026.

Teachta Gould said:“Agency workers provide essential care in Cork – however private agency staffing has become a permanent substitute for directly recruiting and retaining the staff our health service needs.”

“This is happening while recruitment is being curtailed and services face tighter controls on filling vacant posts.

“The Government is restricting direct recruitment with one hand while paying private agencies a substantial premium with the other.

“Cork healthcare is in crisis and long-term agency staffing is a plaster over a gaping wound. This is not the way to run a health service and it is not the solution to a recruitment crisis.

“The Minister and the HSE must publish a conversion plan with firm targets and deadlines. Funded vacancies must be filled and recurring agency roles converted to direct employment.

“We need to cut waste and get better value. Public money in Cork should build permanent frontline capacity, not fuel private agency profits.”