Healthcare unions and HSE management have met at the Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) after unions sought an earlier-than-scheduled review of a staffing agreement reached earlier this year.
The meeting involved the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation (INMO), Fórsa, SIPTU, Irish Medical Organisation, Connect, Unite, and the Medical Laboratory Scientists Association.
Planned industrial action was called off in March after the agreement was reached.
The deal included a commitment to prioritise maternity leave cover, greater consultation with unions on future staffing decisions and an increase in the conversion of agency posts to HSE jobs.
Under the agreement, employment ceilings set under the HSE's Pay and Numbers Strategy would remain in place but promotion opportunities for existing staff within the health service would be prioritise.
Health unions said they believe the HSE to be in breach of the staffing agreement following confirmation that over 6,000 posts remain vacant across the health service.
"As a group of unions we are not satisfied with the data the HSE have provided today relating to staffing," a spokesperson for the ICTU Group of Healthcare Unions said.
"The HSE was unable to provide substantial details regarding recruitment and the filling of maternity leave."
"In one HSE health area, only 9% of maternity leave cover has been filled. This is unacceptable to us as a group of unions," they added.
A spokesperson for the HSE said that following intensive engagement at the WRC today, the parties have agreed a pathway to progress matters and will resume discussions on Monday 10 November.
"The parties will engage locally on a number of agreed matters in the interim."
"The parties remain in process and therefore all discussions remain confidential," the HSE said.
