THE HSE's wage bill for managers and administrators increased by around €95 million between 2005 and 2007, new figures show.
The figures, provided in writing to the Dáil Public Accounts Committee (PAC) last week, indicate the HSE's management and administrative costs rose from €492 million in 2005 to €587 million at the end of2007.
Over the period, the number of staff in management and administrative positions in the HSE increased by 926.
Overall, the number of management and administrative staff employed in the health service at the end of September 2007 was 18,421.
At the end of 2004, just before the establishment of the HSE, there were 16,157 managers and administrators employed in the health service.
The HSE stresses that many of those classed as administration support key front-line services.
The chairman of the PAC, Fine Gael TD Bernard Allen, said yesterday that the committee would closely quiz the HSE's chief executive Prof Brendan Drumm on the figures when he appears before it again in June.
The committee would want to know why so many extra people were hired at substantial cost when now the HSE was considering offering up to 1,000 redundancies, which would also cost millions, he said.
Meanwhile the HSE is about to appoint a new director of human resources on an annual pay scale akin to that of the Taoiseach Bertie Ahern.
Seán McGrath, currently head of human resources at National Irish Bank, has been offered the job. He previously worked with the EBS.
The HSE would not confirm Mr McGrath's appointment but said it is "in the midst of appointing a director of human resources".
The new director is expected to be paid around €305,000 a year, including a basic salary of between €220,000 and €230,000 and a potential bonus of 25 per cent.
The director will have responsibility for the troubled PPARS payroll system and more than 100,000 staff in the HSE.