Irish Medical Organisation

Statement by Irish Medical Organisation

Statement by Irish Medical Organisation

Following decision by State not to contest appeal, the IMO urges Minister to confirm that he will urgently restore withheld payments from all Consultants.

Thursday 26th January 2017.  The Irish Medical Organisation (IMO) has called on the Minister for Health to confirm that he plans to restore unpaid monies to all Consultants whose incomes were impacted by the unilateral decision of a previous Minister to withhold payments contractually due to consultants. 

The IMO was responding to confirmation that the HSE had withdrawn an appeal against a ruling by the Employment Appeals Tribunal that it was not entitled to unilaterally withdraw the payments. 

Speaking today, Dr. Peadar Gilligan, Chairman of the Consultants Committee of the IMO, said that this episode had significantly damaged morale amongst Consultants; “the cynical breach of contractual arrangements which had been hard won fostered a deep sense of alienation amongst Consultants who took the then Minister at her word and agreed to a change of contract only on the basis of clearly spelt out commitments.  These commitments were then torn up by the Minister and it had a deeply damaging impact on our members.  This whole mess contributed very significantly to the morale crisis which is now seen in the near 400 empty Consultant posts across the country.”

Dr. Gilligan also expressed regret that successive Ministers have delayed for so long on this issue; “we were always confident that the Government would lose this case so it has been very frustrating that successive Ministers simply dragged out the issue for as long as they did.”

Dr. Gilligan said the current Minister should use this development as a catalyst for a new relationship with Consultants; “we all want to create a working environment which encourages applicants rather than discourages them.  Addressing this long-standing issue now fairly and quickly might help foster a more constructive relationship between Consultants and the Minister and I urge him to take this opportunity.” 

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