€40m spent on agency nurses last year, €30m so far this year

Yesterdays Controller and Auditor’s general report devoted over 100 pages scrutinising how specific monies have been spent on health. In particular it highlighted €44 million the HSE spent on agency staff in 2009. Figures obtained by me today show that so far this year just another €30 million has been spent on nursing agency staff. Clearly this is not the best use of public money.