SIPTU members have been participating in a series of lunchtime protests across the country in opposition to the HSE’s Pay and Numbers Strategy.
In the summer of 2023, the HSE implemented a recruitment embargo, leaving thousands of previously approved positions unfilled across the public health service.
In July of this year, the HSE announced the lifting of the recruitment embargo, coinciding with the long-awaited release of its pay and numbers strategy.
What the HSE did not say, however, was that any position that was unfilled on 31st December 2023 is now unlikely to be filled, even if it was previously funded and approved.
The HSE took a unilateral decision, without consultation with SIPTU, to suppress all the vacancies that existed on 31st December 2023. They have refused to share data with any union as to how many funded and approved vacancies have been suppressed because of this decision.
Watch SIPTU Activists tell us why they are protesting the HSE’s Pay and Numbers Strategy at Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital in Drogheda.