Ireland’s Health Services (HSE) announced that it will introduce a three-month recruitment freeze in the health service in an effort to manage costs, reports RTE Ireland. In a letter to senior HSE directors, the Deputy Director General of the HSE Liam Woods said the decision is based upon the financial pressure in the system arising from the high levels of recruitment in 2018, and the consequential impact in 2019 and the “need to live within resources.” The letter also states that the ban will not apply to hospitals that have credible financial plans in place, meaning it only applies to those that are overrunning on their budgets. Labour party's health spokesman Alan Kelly said the three-month recruitment ban is “complete madness” at a time when there are staff shortages.  Kelly has stated that recruitment is one of the reasons why some hospitals are overrunning on their budgets, adding that over €300 million is being used on agency staff because recruitment issues have not been dealt with before.