John Halligan (Waterford, Independent)
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88. To ask the Minister for Health the amount spent on agency staff at University Hospital Waterford in each of the years 2013 to 2015, in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [3934/16]

Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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The agency expenditure totals in respect of University Hospital Waterford, for each of the last three years can be seen in the table below.

The November HSE Performance Report stated that in 2015 a particular focus was given to reducing agency and overtime. Overall, agency costs are falling in the HSE. The November figure of just over €26 million was a €1.2 million reduction on the October figure, a decrease for a second consecutive month. The November Year To Date expenditure of €304.1m was down by approximately €7m or 2.3% on the 2014 November year to date figure.

The reduction has been greater in the acute sector where agency expenditure reduced from €208 million year to date in November 2014 to €189 million year to date in November 2015.