HOSPITAL consultants have expressed dissatisfaction with new pay guidelines under which their salaries will rise by 6 per cent.
They were awarded half under the review, and a further 3 per cent as negotiated under the PCW. The top pay scale for hospital consultants now is £78,400.
Traditionally, consultants have considered themselves on a par with High Court judges and the secretary of the Department of Health. They were angry the review body considered their remuneration should not "be linked specifically to that of any other particular group within our remit".
"We have decided, in the light of all the various adjustments, to recommend that the salaries of consultants should be increased by 3 per cent," said the review group.
The Irish Hospital Consultants' Association said they were now 4.5 per cent behind High Court judges, a parity which was set in 1981 when the "common contract" was drawn up.
Mr Conal Devine, IMO director of industrial relations, said it was "outrageous" that the review group had "disregarded all the comparators."
The review group said it had been made clear that the revised rates would only be implemented if consultants accepted the changes in their terms and conditions, setting down the same conditions as the Buckley review for hospital consultants published in December.
In December, the consultants were allocated an extra £13 million, with increases ranging from 6.5 per cent to 18 per cent.
The IHCA secretary general, Mr Finbarr Fitzpatrick, described yesterday's increase as "disappointing" - He said the latest award would make negotiations with the Minister for Health, Mr Noonan, on the original package, due to begin on March 18th, "very difficult"
He said it exacerbated existing problems created under the first Buckley review. He added that the £17,000 cap on out-of-hours call-in payments for consultants, which was already "artificially high", would now be raised even higher.
Mr Devine said it was unprecedented that a review body should make a recommendation in relation to pay for a group without giving them an opportunity to put forward their case.
"It calls into question in our minds the whole role of review bodies and consultants pay," he said.