Only a third of the €18m allocated for palliative care services was actually spent in the area, with much of the cash being redirected by the HSE, the Sunday Tribune has learned.

Some €9m was allocated in the 2006 budget for palliative care services, in addition to a further €9m the following year. However, of this, only €6m was actually invested by the HSE in palliative care over the two years.

The Irish Hospice Foundation (IHF) has expressed deep concern at what it described as "disappearing funds" at a time when there is serious need for investment in palliative care for children and adults. It said the funding was approved for a range of posts including consultants and nurses, but that less than half of the 130 positions have been filled. Only 20% of the posts in the three least developed regions of the country – the northeast, the midlands and the southeast – have been filled.

"We are gravely concerned that this funding provision to the HSE is in danger of being diverted into other areas," said IFH chief Eugene Murray.

"This means that the posts which were approved will disappear into what the HSE describe as 'time-related savings'. On many occasions when we queried the delay in filling posts we were assured by senior HSE management that there was no danger of these funds and posts being lost in future budgets. These assurances have unfortunately not been honoured."