Another senior official with the Health Service Executive (HSE) has criticised the Government ceiling on staff numbers in the health sector.
John O'Brien, director of the HSE's National Hospitals Office, said the ceiling was very difficult to work with.
"In fact, it creates perversity in terms of efficiency and quality of care.
"There is no question that it is a blunt instrument; it is designed to achieve a particular objective and I think that objective can be achieved without having to resort to that, but that requires a much greater focus in management terms on our part," he told irishhealth.com.
His comments follow similar remarks from the chief executive of the HSE, Prof Brendan Drumm, last October. Prof Drumm told a nurses' conference at the time that the staff ceiling was actually driving up costs.
He added that the "crude measure" had to be challenged by all within the service.
It made no sense, he said, as it resulted in costly agency staff being employed instead of full- time staff being recruited.
"It was a crude measure, I suspect put in place that nobody had thought through.
"It's one that is being challenged by me and has to be and I think everybody in the system has to challenge it, not on the basis that it's there but on the basis that it's costing more," he said.
The secretary general of the Department of Health, Michael Scanlan, subsequently wrote Prof Drumm a strongly worded letter rebuking him for publicly disparaging Government policy.
In his letter, Mr Scanlan said he had been "very surprised" to read Prof Drumm's comments regarding public sector numbers.
"In the first place this is a Government decision and I do not think it is appropriate for the chief executive officer of the largest public service employer to disparage it.
"It is particularly inappropriate to suggest that nobody had thought through the policy and I have no idea on what basis you made such an assertion," he wrote.