Maternity leave cover issue persists in health service. Why won’t the Minister act for staff and patients?

• Incredible that maternity leave cover is automatic in other parts of the public service but not in health services. Failure to cover maternity and sick leave is placing further pressure on overstretched and overburdened staff and driving critical workers to burnout.
• The HSE is failing to deliver on its WRC agreement with trade unions to prioritise filling maternity leave cover. Applications for maternity cover must go through a convoluted process within the HSE and are applied inconsistently across areas.
• A Fórsa report on morale in the health service paints a stark picture of a system creaking at the seams.

Deputy Marie Sherlock has today called on the HSE to act urgently to meet its commitments made with trade unions and agreed in May 2025. She said it is unacceptable that unions and the HSE are returning to the Labour Court next week to resolve what should be basic issues, including maternity leave backfill, recruitment and workforce planning. Deputy Sherlock was speaking following the launch of Fórsa Trade Union’s report, “Morale among Health and Social Care Workers”.

Deputy Sherlock said:

“Today’s findings from a comprehensive survey of more than 3,775 Fórsa members across the health service have laid bare the scale of the challenges facing staff.

“That 68% of health and social care workers are experiencing illness as a result of their jobs, and that 67% are considering leaving their roles, is a damning indictment of the HSE’s failure to improve retention. The impact on services is already clear in last year’s alarming outpatient waiting list figures.

“This reality is symptomatic of a wider failure within the HSE to maintain a relentless focus on retention. The HSE must redouble its efforts to relieve the significant pressure staff are under, which too often is a direct result of failures to ensure maternity leave cover and adequate recruitment.

“We are now eight months on from the WRC agreement reached to avert strike action. The HSE committed to an expedited maternity leave cover approval process and to backfilling posts.

“And yet we see very little progress on maternity cover. This is driving staff to burnout as they struggle to manage their own roles while also carrying the workload of absent colleagues. It raises a very simple question: who is looking after those who look after us?

“Almost 80% of staff in the health service are women. It is untenable in this day and age that any post is left vacant due to a failure to plan properly for maternity leave and maternity cover. This should be predictable and expected.

“As we heard today, staff are informing colleagues that they are pregnant while apologising for the additional workload their absence will place on others because their posts will not be backfilled. That anyone should feel guilt for something so joyous is a disgrace.

“The HSE must meet its obligations as an employer by ensuring proactive recruitment for maternity cover through direct employment and by accurately measuring maternity leave absences across the health service. Only then can it begin to reverse the alarming levels of burnout, stress and poor retention that are undermining services across the State.”