Ms Ashley Connolly:

Over the years, there have been conversions of agency workers into direct employees. This could happen in a localised area where a body needs to bring in short-term agency workers to cover maternity leave, long-term sick leave or vacant posts. For nearly 18 months, we have been raising with the HSE our significant concern about the number of advertisements across multiple agency companies. I have recorded at least a dozen different companies that provide staff to the HSE.