THE MAIN REPRESENTATIVE body for doctors in Ireland has recommended that its members vote against the new public sector pay deal.
The Irish Medical Organisation (IMO) has said that it has concerns that the Lansdowne Road Agreement does not do enough to prevent doctors leaving the Irish healthcare system.
This follows a recommendation on Wednesday by the Teachers’ Union of Ireland that its members should reject the proposal as it fails to tackle issues relating to ‘flex’ hour contracts.
What is the big issue for doctors?
Speaking about the new ‘Lansdowne Road Agreement’, the President of the IMO, Dr Ray Walley, said, “IMO Council had no option but to vote to reject the Agreement and to recommend rejection by our members.”
This agreement does nothing to address the real crisis in our health services – the inability of the system to retain existing doctors and attract new doctors.
He went on to say that the trend of doctors leaving the country was creating patient safety issues with long waiting lists and insufficient resources.
It was also felt that previous concerns to do with a two-tier pay system had not been properly addressed. This was something that came up last October when the organisation voted to reject proposals by the health service on restructuring.
The proposal was for a reduction in pay rates for newly-appointed hospital consultants whose pay ranged between €125,000 and €175,000.
Walley said that that negotiations that had been going on with the entrant agreements for consultants had been hampered by the new agreement.
What else is missing?
The group has also said that the agreement does not treat all workers equally.
Speaking about this, Walley says that while emphasis should be placed on lower-paid workers, all staff should receive acknowledgement.
“What we all want is a health service that delivers for patients, but to get that Government must address the critical issues that are effectively forcing doctors away,” he concluded.
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