Question from Deputy Ken O'Flynn - PQ 66568-25

To ask the Minister for Health the reason her Department and the HSE do not maintain a record of approved HSE posts that remain unfilled for more than six months; the mechanisms currently used to monitor persistent vacancies of this kind; the way in which her Department assesses the financial effect of these long-term vacancies on the Exchequer and the impact of such vacancies on service delivery and workforce planning; and if she will now direct the HSE to establish a formal audit process for posts that remain unfilled for extended periods.