As thousands of HSE staff nationally have taken early retirement, the Hse West Management informed councillors this week that it will be taking on agency staff in a temporary capacity to deal with the impact on services.

In response to a question from Galway Independent Councillor Catherine Connolly it was confirmed that 115 staff have taken the early retirement package in Galway city and county and that while a complete break-down of those 115 staff is not yet available, it appears that up to a half of those are nurses providing front line services.

Speaking to Midwest News today the councillor insisted that newly qualified nurses and doctors leaving the country in droves to emigrate to seek employment should be more than able to take up the slack, instead of using agency staff.