Doctors to claim pay rises up to 20% needed to match overseas

Doctors are to argue that pay increases of up to 20 per cent will be required if the HSE and Department of Health are to compete with hospitals in the English-speaking world for medical staff.

The Irish Medical Organisation (IMO) is to tell the Government's new Public Service Pay Commission this week that pay rises of 5-19 per cent for non-consultant doctors would be needed to bring Irish salaries into line with those on offer in the UK, Canada and Australia.

It will argue in a submission that pay cuts of about 20 per cent introduced under financial emergency legislation for hospital consultants employed before 2012 would have to be reversed while the 30 per cent reduction in salary for those appointed after that date would have to be fully removed if Ireland is to become attractive again for senior doctors.

The IMO is expected to contend that Ireland faces significant issues in the area of medical staffing and that there is a high level of emigration among Irish-trained doctors. “In 2015 alone the Irish medical register experienced an exit rate of 8.7 per cent for doctors aged between 25 and 34, underscoring the severity of the problem.

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“A factor contributing to the low number of doctors working in Ireland are unattractive working conditions and levels of remunerations that both drive emigration of doctors from Ireland, and inhibit the return of doctors who have already emigrated.”

The doctors’ trade union will maintain that pay available to virtually all cohorts of doctor in Ireland is inferior to that available in other English-speaking jurisdictions.

Unattractive roles

“At any one time, around 250 consultant posts remain vacant due to a lack of suitable applications. One-quarter of advertised consultant posts receive no applications. Consultant posts in the Irish health system are not deemed to be attractive roles,” the submission states.

It says that difficulties in retaining non-consultant doctors have been exacerbated by the pay cuts for those in public service earning more than €65,000 which it describes as “disproportionate” within the health service.

It says new rules limiting working hours have resulted in earnings for non-consultant doctors falling on average by 46 per cent.

"In general, an increase in payment would be required to bring the wage levels of non-consultant hospital doctors in Ireland on par with those working in other English-speaking jurisdictions. At the median point of an NCHD [non-consultant hospital doctor] salary scale, a 5 per cent increase in net pay would be required to bring wages up to the corresponding level in England, an 18 per cent increase to bring wages up to the level in Victoria, a 19 per cent increase to bring wages up to the level in New South Wales, an 18 per cent increase to bring wages up to the level in Ontario, and a 12 per cent increase to bring wages up to the level in British Columbia.

Stemming exodus

“There is no reality to the prospect of successful retention of NCHDs within the Irish health system where wages lag so far behind those available elsewhere. Accordingly, significant increases in salary, to bring them into line with those available in Canada, Australia, and elsewhere, will be required for NCHDs if their continuing exodus from Ireland is to be stemmed.”

The IMO says that the top point of the pay scale for consultants working exclusively in the public service was €226,461 in September 2008 but has since been reduced by nearly €50,000 to €178,593 – a fall of 21 per cent.

It says similar cuts were introduced for those doctors with contracts permitting limited private practice. These are known as type-B and C contacts which the IMO describes as “relatively unattractive”.

“With the scope for private practice limited, they contain neither performance-related bonus payments, nor the strong support or additional payments contained in other contracts. An unwinding of Fempi [Financial Emergency Measures in the Public Interest] and a reversal of the 30 per cent pay cut imposed unilaterally on consultants in 2012 would be required to render the remuneration available under the Irish type-B and C contracts as sufficiently attractive in an international marketplace.”