The Health Service Executive has revealed that it is to introduce a three month recruitment ban in an effort to reduce costs.
According to a letter issued by the Deputy Director General of the HSE Liam Woods, the temporary recruitment ban is being introduced due to financial reasons.
In the detailed letter which was published by Labour Party TD Alan Kelly, Mr Woods states that the high recruitment levels from 2018 has had an overall impact on the recruitment process in 2019 and therefore a temporary freeze must be implemented in order to manage spiralling costs in the health sector.
However the letter has already drawn criticism from Mr Kelly as he claims that such a move is unacceptable given the current staff shortages within the sector.
The decision has also prompted Mr Kelly to call on the Health Minister Simon Harris to intervene and reverse the decision.