The Health Service Executive (HSE) has criticised a 20 per cent pay claim lodged by the Irish Medical Organisation (IMO) with the Government's benchmarking body on behalf of more than 4,000 non-consultant hospital doctors.
In its replying submission to the benchmarking body, the HSE said the IMO was justifying its claim for a salary increase of 20 per cent on the grounds that its members' potential to earn overtime payments was being reduced because of the implementation of the provisions of the European Working Time Directive.
This directive sets out maximum hours which non-consultant doctors can work in hospitals.
"It is wholly inappropriate that the pay of any group should be enhanced because of a potential fall in overtime earnings which, in this instance, arise because of an employer requirement to implement the law of the land in respect of the working hours of medical personnel and which is ultimately intended to greatly enhance the working conditions of the staff concerned," the HSE stated.
The HSE also argued that the IMO's insistence that overtime rates must apply to all hours worked by non-consultant hospital doctors outside of the core 9am-5pm was "at variance with claims of the high level of flexibility forthcoming from the grades".
The IMO in its submission had argued that salary levels for non-consultant hospital doctors in the public sector had been "suppressed traditionally on the assumption of significant premium earnings associated with overtime worked".
It maintained that these doctors worked an average week, including overtime, of 77 hours but that the introduction of a statutory maximum working time of 58 hours could see earnings fall by 30 per cent.
The IMO said this projected fall in earnings would be even greater when the current maximum working week was reduced to 56 hours by August 2007 and 48 hours per week by 2011.
However, HSE management said as the current overtime payment arrangements arose from an agreement concluded in 2000, the contention that pay rates had been "traditionally suppressed" due to overtime earnings did not stand up to close examination.
"The pay of non-consultant hospital doctors can only be looked at and assessed on the same basis as all other groups that are before the benchmarking body and in accordance with the terms of reference agreed between the parties, as a coherent and broadly based comparison with jobs and pay rates across the economy," the HSE submission stated.
The HSE said the overtime bill for non-consultant doctors was in the region of €200 million per annum.
It said this represented an average overtime earning payment per doctor of about €45,000.
It said registrars in some hospitals with a basic salary of €51,545 were receiving total payments of nearly €106,000 when overtime was taken into account.
