Cork-based Horizons charity spent €11m on agency staff in two years

More than €11m was spent on agency staff in the last two years by Cork-based charity, Horizons, to address staff shortages.

This week the charity said it would have to reduce its services without the use of such agencies.

Horizons, formerly the Cope Foundation, supports more than 2,800 children and adults with intellectual disabilities and autism.

A spokesperson told The Echo it “prioritises the appropriate care and support in the appropriate setting for the people the organisation supports.

“While this is done in the most part by full-time staff or full-time equivalents, in 2024 and 2025 Horizons employed agency staff to address shortfalls in staffing arising from the increase in service provision required to meet the needs of people with disabilities across Cork city and county.

“This was deemed to be a necessary measure, on the basis of risk to service delivery and safety. The operational decision was made to assign agency staffing rather than await recruitment of permanent staff thereby ensuring people received necessary services as quickly as possible.”

The average whole time equivalent of staff employed by Horizons via agency in 2024 was 68 per month and in 2025 was 70 per month.

The total cost of agency staffing was €5.436m in 2024 and €5.894 in 2025, a total of €11.33m in a 24-month period, they said.

The 68 to 70 agency staff hired per month represents around 5% of overall staffing levels, and the cost represents less than 6% of the overall budget, the spokesperson said.

RESPITE

They said though there was a slight increase in agency staff from 2024 to 2025, it represents a decrease in the overall staffing allocation, as staffing as a whole increased in 2025 across residential, respite, and day services to meet the demand for new services.

They said the use of agency staffing “is essential to ensuring people receive vital residential, day, and respite services”.

“Due to the demand for services, and the shortage of staff across the health and social care sector, Horizons would have no option but to reduce the quantum of services delivered if agency staff were not used. 

"This would have an adverse impact on people who require support, their families, Cork communities, and the wider health and social care system.”

They added that Horizons continues to recruit on an ongoing basis.

It comes as a recent Hiqa report into one Horizons centre, Cork City North 7, said “there was a heavy reliance on agency staff”, with the inspector meeting a number of staff who were on their first shift and unfamiliar with the residents they were supporting.

The inspector noted these agency staff, as they were not familiar with the centre and residents, were “not utilised to reduce the workload on regular staff in any significant manner”.

High spend on agency staff is common across the health service, and within the disability sector. Last year, The Echo revealed that the HSE spent over €2m on disability staff across Cork and Kerry in 2024.