Health Minister Stephen Donnelly said funding has been made available for an additional 2,969 staff for this year.
The breakdown of that figure is 2,268 for health and 701 through the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth.
“I have approved the allocation of the new development posts relevant to the health budget,” said Mr Donnelly in a response to Fine Gael TD David Stanton.
“Plans to recruit these 2,268 additional staff are in motion. This will enable the HSE to set out its recruitment targets in each area for 2024.
“It will inform decisions at local level on the filling of available posts, including recruitment of new staff, relocation of staff within the health service and appointments of those returning to work following career breaks.
“I have also approved the rollout of safe staffing through the conversion of 418 agency staff.”
The minister added: “While discussions are ongoing I am, in the main, in agreement with the HSE Pay and Numbers Strategy (PNS).
“The outstanding issue relates to how the unfunded posts created through over-recruitment are to be managed.
“I put options to Government at the end of March 2024 on how to resolve this and my department, along with the HSE, will be in a position to finalise the PNS once a final decision is reached.”
The HSE hired between 2,000 and 2,500 more staff last year than it was funded to do.
Some grades were exempt from the freeze, such as hospital consultants and graduate nurses, as well as doctors in formal training programmes.
It was criticised by health unions, who say it hindered services.
There are now around 146,429 staff working in our health service, with 26,617 more staff today than there were at the beginning of 2020.
These include an additional 8,414 nurses and midwives, 4,067 health and social care professionals, and 2,872 doctors and dentists.
The pause was part of a suite of controls, including an instruction to reduce expenditure on agency staff and management consultants across the HSE.