Consultants don’t earn more than those in UK

PETER MOLLOY (Irish Examiner letters, April 25) inaccurately claims that Irish hospital consultants are paid more than their UK counterparts.

The salaries so frequently mentioned by Health Minister Mary Harney range from €160,000 to €205,000 after five years for certain public-only contracts.

It is readily recognised by the Irish Hospital Consultants’ Association (IHCA) that this puts consultants at the higher end of senior public servants’ salaries. Claims by Mr Molloy that the IHCA described these salaries in derogatory terms are incorrect.