We are writing to you in connection with a memorandum issued by the HSE National Director of Human Resources dated 27^th October 2021 entitled ‘Implementing the Slaintecare Contract for Existing Campaigns’.

You can read a copy of the memorandum here.

The content and tone of the memorandum,  coming as it does while Consultant contract negotiations are underway, is very concerning and reflects an attitude that is far from collaborative.   Given that no new contract terms have been agreed it is premature to ask applicants to indicate if they wish to proceed with application on the basis of a contract they have yet to see or consider.  Our public health service is currently dealing with a crisis in consultant recruitment where we have now more than 700 vacant posts and the tone of the memorandum is wholly inappropriate.

The current position is that the only contracts that can or should be offered to applicants are the current and agreed consultant contracts  pending any agreement on new terms and conditions.

The IMO have entered these negotiations in good faith and expect the same from the Management side.  We intend to raise this matter with the Chair of the talks.

If you have any queries in this regard, or are in the process of applying for a Consultant post, please contact the IMO on (01) 6767273 or by e-mail at consultantissues@imo.ie