Last year the department launched phase 2 of the safe staffing framework
The Health Minister has acknowledged that healthcare professionals are under sustained pressure in some hospitals.
Stephen Donnelly says we have to find ways of filling posts that have been sanctioned by his department.
It comes as the Irish Nurses' and Midwives' Organisation is to ballot for industrial action due to "unsafe" staff numbers.
Minister Donnelly says huge efforts have been made to hire more staff.
He added, "Just last year we launched phase 2 of the safe staffing framework. This is a core policy for the IMNO.
"Phase one was for hospital wards in the bigger hospitals, so there was a proper ratio of nurses to patients and phase two is the emergency departments.
"So a lot more staff have been sanctioned in the emergency departments, nurses and healthcare assistants and last year I sanctioned an extra 52 emergency medical consultants."
