The IMO President Dr Peadar Gilligan has accused the Government of being “anti-doctor and, in particular, anti-consultant”.
Dr Gilligan was speaking as the union launched its new campaign to “Fight for Fairness” for consultants.
Dr Gilligan said that “the persistence of the two-tier pay policy under which consultants recruited after 2012 are paid 30 per cent less than consultants recruited before that date reflected a deeper anti-senior specialist agenda in Government”.
He said this “was directly linked” to the inability of the HSE to hire consultants for critical posts around the country.
The new ‘Fight for Fairness’ campaign will see the IMO highlight the issue across the country.
“Five months ago, the Minister for Health said that he would sit down and address new entrant consultant contracts, but he has yet to do so,” said Dr Gilligan.
“We want those talks to commence immediately so that we can sort out the recruitment crisis which is directly linked to the appalling waiting lists facing patients across the country.”
Dr Gilligan said the IMO had recently surveyed consultants on the issue and 97 per cent of consultants said that they felt that recruitment difficulties were a direct result of the 2012 pay cut.”
