HOSPITAL CONSULTANTS have reacted angrily to the news that the Government's postponement of certain pay increases will affect the deal struck on consultants' contracts.
The Irish Hospital Consultants' Association (IHCA) has urged members to avoid signing new contracts until it meets to discuss the issue next month.
The HSE Employers' Agency wrote to the consultants' association last week saying that the Government's postponement of pay increases recommended by the Review Body on Higher Remuneration would affect consultants.
Under the plan, the salaries of consultants switching to new contracts will not be affected. But consultants who remain on existing contracts will receive a 5 per cent increase, backdated to September 14th, 2007, instead of a phased 7.3 per cent increase. The payment of the remaining 2.3 per cent will be reviewed in 2010. So, where a consultant might have, at best, received an extra €13,000 in phased payments, he/she will now receive about €9,000.
Call-out payments for consultants on more onerous rotas have also been revised downwards. Instead of receiving the agreed 7.3 per cent increase, consultants will receive 5 per cent, backdated to June.
The consultants' association said the Government was wrong to include them in the cutbacks and pointed to a statement from the review body which said it did not recommend remuneration of consultants because of the uncertainty surrounding the issue.
Donal Duffy, IHCA assistant secretary general, said consultants were "exceedingly concerned" at the development, because the sums involved had been freely negotiated and were put to a ballot of members in good faith. "They were not recommended by the Review Body on Higher Remuneration to which the Government decision relates," he said. "This decision calls into question the capacity of the State to abide by its agreements and must raise concerns for any other representative group in discussions with Government at present."
Earlier this summer, after four years of talks, the IMO and IHCA members agreed to the introduction of new contracts, which provide for longer working weeks and include restrictions on private practice.
The IHCA has sought a meeting with health service employers before its council meets in mid-August. "In the interim, we have exhorted our members to delay signing new contracts until after those meetings," Mr Duffy said.
HSE Employers' Agency chief executive Gerard Barry said the salary revisions came "on foot of a Government decision that applies to all senior public servants and one which is outside the remit of the contract negotiations".
This dispute will delay the introduction of the new contracts which went out to consultants late last week. They have until the end of August to decide if they wish to remain on their existing contracts or move to the new contract. It comes in three categories, including the "public only" category which has a basic salary of €240,000 a year.