As protests continue outside hospitals nationwide, inside the corridors of power, Fórsa’s Ashley Connolly and Linda Kelly held no punches as they channeled the concerns that are exercising Fórsa members across the country, when they spoke to the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health, last week.

They channeled the anger and frustration of health care workers across the country who are tiring of the HSE's “cheap tricks” and a sense on the ground that staffing shortages were being used to introduce privatisation by stealth. 

Led by Ashley Connolly, Fórsa’s head of health and welfare, and Linda Kelly, national secretary, the union presented findings from the recent survey Unfilled Posts, Unseen Consequences, and expressed dire concerns over the Health Service Executive’s (HSE) so called “pay and numbers strategy.” Ashley and Linda were joined by Orla Carroll and Corinne Phelan from the Health and Welfare DEC and Martin Jennings, chair of the Physiotherapy national professional committee.

According to Ashley Connolly, Fórsa’s internal survey shows that there is a defacto hiring embargo drastically undermining and impacting front-line services. “Services are being curtailed or stopped, morale is on the floor, and there does not seem to be any clear plan on how staffing for services is going to be managed under the pay and numbers strategy,” she told the committee, noting that Fórsa’s findings show a “very different” story from the one presented by HSE leaders in recent briefings. 

The Fórsa survey highlights specific examples of strain within the health system, showing that speech and language therapy services are facing increases in waiting times for paediatrics,  while staffing limitations prevent expansion of adult services. In occupational therapy, members told of restrictions on services and increases in patient length of stay. 

Administrative roles are also under pressure, with Ashley describing a situation where “services have fallen behind on essential duties,” and some clinical teams are taking on clerical work to keep services functioning.  

“The story that the survey results show is very different to that which was portrayed by the joint chairs of the productivity and savings task force in front of this committee several weeks ago. The results of our survey have been reaffirmed at every location where we have held multi-union protests over the past month. From Connolly Hospital in Dublin to Midland Regional Hospital in Tullamore, the feedback is the same,” Ashley told the committee. 

Linda Kelly followed, criticising recent remarks from Robert Watt, Secretary General of the Department of Health, who recently stated that it would not be sustainable in the long term to continue to increase the health budget in line with demand every year.

Linda argued that this perspective, which she described as a “neoliberal tactic,” undermines public healthcare and opens the door to privatisation.  

“This narrative must be refuted in the strongest possible terms,” she said. “The population of our country is growing, and the over-65 cohort, who need the most services from health, is growing exponentially. We should have a legitimate expectation that staffing to provide those services would increase with relativity.” 

According to Linda, Fórsa members are increasingly frustrated by the lack of recognition and investment in their roles, especially as private consultancy firms suck up large sums of public money intended to support healthcare services.  

To emphasise the point Linda outlined how many posts could be covered with the amount of money currently being spent on consultancy fees: “The €79.493 million spent on private, for-profit consultancy firms for strategic planning and business improvement in 2023 would fund 1,865 entry-level therapy posts across the country, 2,354 medical secretary posts, or over 1,300 psychology posts. Imagine what difference that level of staffing would make to people when accessing services?” 

Fórsa’s representatives also expressed dissatisfaction with the HSE’s approach to industrial relations, noting that when the HSE finally held a presentation on the pay and numbers strategy in July, it was “nothing more than a fait accompli and a tick-the-box exercise. It has blatantly refused to listen to the voices of its own staff, choosing instead to work with outside agencies to craft a plan without any internal input. It is quite simply a recipe for disaster.” 

Criticising HSE CEO Bernard Gloster for what she sees as an unwillingness to resolve the staffing crisis in collaboration with unions, Linda stated “One can only conclude on the behaviour to date that Bernard Gloster has no intention of resolving this dispute and is prepared to gamble the health service during the winter months rather than engage with staff on an issue of fundamental dispute.” 

The union’s concerns also stem from recent reports suggesting that the HSE is instructing its human resources department to “switch off” vacant posts on its payroll system, a move that could further reduce transparency in staffing decisions and prevent critical roles from being filled.  

Ashley Connolly warned that this lack of transparency and the absence of a structured workforce plan are likely to deepen the staffing crisis and disrupt services, especially as demand surges in winter. “Such an approach, when coupled with the lack of transparency about the data underpinning the HSE pay and numbers strategy, should be of grave concern to this committee,” she said. 

“There can be no better return on investment for the HSE than investing in its staff,” Linda concluded, asserting that a robust, public-oriented workforce plan is essential to ensuring that Ireland’s health services remain both effective and accessible. 

You can watch the committee session here, and read Ashley Connolly’s contribution to the committee here and find Linda Kelly’s here.  

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