Minister for Health Jennifer Carroll MacNeill is seeking to establish a bank of HSE “agency” staff to reduce payments to third-party companies amid budget overruns.Earlier this year, a number of health regions were directed to put in place “immediate corrective measures” and cost-saving plans after the HSE recorded a €150 million deficit in the first two months of the year. The measures are expected to focus on reducing expenditure on temporary workers provided through agencies, who are more expensive to employ than regular staff.The health service’s expenditure on agency staff has grown considerably in recent years, reaching €903.4 million last year – an increase of €100 million on the previous year.Speaking to politicians at the Oireachtas select health committee on Wednesday morning, Carroll MacNeill acknowledged spending on agency workers remained too high.She pointed to healthcare assistants, mental health and older people as three areas driving this expenditure.Carroll MacNeill outlined a number of ways to reduce this, including tightening authorisation controls and restrictions on use in certain areas.“I want to establish our own HSE agency. I am tired of paying agency fees to third parties. I don’t believe there’s any value in it,” she said.“I believe there is a role for agency in the future of the health system insofar as we will need a certain level of flexibility. But where we do need that flexibility, I do not want to pay a third-party entity for the privilege of it.”[ Children’s healthcare failings in Ireland laid bare by new HSE auditOpens in new window ]Carroll MacNeill said she had asked for this “staff bank” to be established back in October and that work was “progressing” on the matter.“It should be possible if you want to do extra hours, you apply to our own agency to say you’re available to do extra hours. We need better conditionality on the use of agency as well,” she said.“If we establish a staff bank in the way that I’m describing, then we end the off-framework model. Thereafter, we’re not doing it [agency spend] outside of this structure. That is going to result in some disruption.”The issue of agency spend was raised by Sinn Féin’s health spokesman David Cullinane, who described the expenditure last year as “outrageous”, adding that he supported the idea of a HSE bank of staff.The minister said the “most important” tool in reducing reliance on these agencies was converting these posts to permanent positions. She said it took an “inordinately long time to recruit a nurse” and that the existing systems “don’t necessarily support quick recruitment”.“We want people working in permanent positions. We have too many permanent positions that are funded but not filled,” she said.