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.

Had he checked with consultants who have returned from the UK, or who are still in practice in that jurisdiction, he would have quickly established that they have an earning capacity of up to €300,000 per annum for a shorter working week.

The various claims regarding performance-related pay and overtime have yet to be presented to the IHCA.

Its position regarding the financial package available to consultants has always been that it must be at a level to continue to attract the best candidates from the developed world, particularly the US and Britain, back to publicly contested posts in Irish hospitals.

The IHCA has stated on numerous occasions that the breaking point in the contract negotiations centred on professional and ethical matters rather than hours of work or remuneration.

It is universally recognised that once a patient gets into hospital in Ireland, the standard of medical care provided is on a par with the best in developed countries.

The problems of our hospital services have to do with capacity, flexibility and access.

Any criticism of the services should be centred on these problems rather than on expert doctors who try to overcome these difficulties every day as they provide a quality service to patients.

Finbarr Fitzpatrick

Secretary-General

Irish Hospital Consultants Association

Dundrum Office Park

Dublin 14