HSE spent €21.6m with University of Limerick recruitment firm but can’t say how many staff hired

Third Level

The agency does not recruit frontlines staff but rather sources jobs for clerical personnel.

THE HSE SPENT €21.6 million with the University of Limerick-owned recruitment firm Unijobs between the start of 2022 and June 2023 on hiring administrative staff, but it cannot say how many were brought on board. Documents obtained under Freedom of Information show that the HSE spent €14 million with the firm in 2022, and a further €7.6 million in the first half of last year. The agency does not recruit doctors, nurses, or other frontline staff, but rather sources jobs for clerical personnel. The HSE has said that it cannot say how many staff it has hired through the UL-owned firm as multiple contractors within the health service have engaged with Unijobs, and there is no centralised figure. “The shortcomings in the HSE legacy financial systems are well acknowledged and their
replacement by a single standard financial system for the health sector is at the core of the finance reform programme initiated by the Department of Health,” a HSE spokesperson said. The Journal has asked Unijobs and the University of Limerick how many administrative staff it placed in jobs within the HSE in 2022, in the first half of 2023 and to date, but received no reply. On the Unijobs website it states that it has “1500″ successfully placed candidates, without giving a time period. Unijobs is a wholly owned subsidiary of UL, it was set up in 2012 in order to cut down the amount the university itself was spending on temporary agency staff. At the time temp staffing solutions were costing UL an additional 30% on top of payroll, a quality review report from 2020 states (23% being VAT, 7% being recruitment agency markup). The long-term aim of the public sector “not for profit” agency was to become “a major force in the Irish market by providing staffing solutions to higher education institutions, other public sector organisations and commercial organisations.” It was intended that the company would employ “temporary/casual” staff for UL, and allow the university “greater flexibility” in light of its changing employment requirements, after new legislation was brought, in part to tackle a precarious contracts framework for higher education bodies. Unijobs has grown exponentially since then. UL’s 2022 financial statements say that the agency alone accounted for a €3.9 million increase in income year on year. “This growth in Unijobs is mainly attributable to placement of staff with the HSE”, UL said, clarifying that the agency recruits staff, and then “seconds” the employees to clients on short term contracts, on a “cost recoupment basis only”. On its website, Unijobs says that 50% of its candidates are hired to “full-time positions”.

Unijobs had a turnover of €21,449,457 in 2022 according to its last annual return, with €19,531,018 in cost of sales. It further had €1,918,439 in gross profit, and the exact same amount in administrative costs. Overall it made a loss of just under -€10,000 after taxation.