The Health Service Executive is facing a multi million euro budget over-run as a result of a Labour Court ruling handed down yesterday that will effectively force them to employ hundreds of staff on a permanent basis.
The Labour Court ruled that the employment of agency workers on anything other than a temporary basis in emergency situations was not in keeping with the terms of either the Sustaining Progress or Towards 2016 social partnership agreements.
The HSE West has been employing up to 150 agency workers for several years but the court ruled that it must restore the staffing levels to the levels they were at when the then Finance Minister, Charlie McCreevy, imposed an embargo on recruitment in the public sector in 2002.
This would effectively mean the employment of an additional 200 staff in the west alone.
Union sources say this will mean the employment of hundreds of workers in not only HSE West region but throughout the country - workers who will have pension entitlements thereby imposing new cost issue on the HSE.
This Labour Court recommendation is binding on both parties.
The case was taken on behalf of up to 200 clerical administrative workers in Galway, Mayo and Roscommon.
A spokesperson for the Minister for Health has said the HSE 'will be working towards implementing' the court's recommendations.
It is not yet known how many new full-time jobs will have to be filled by the HSE, but a union source has put a minimum estimate at 400 to 500 nationwide.
