Following our member e-mail concerning the public service new entrant measures (‘increment skips’), we were contacted by several Consultant members who were entitled to avail of the increment skips but had not been able to do so.

It would seem that there was some confusion surrounding the wording of the circular issued, and whether it would apply to Consultants recruited after 1st October 2012.

We raised this matter with the HSE and the Department of Health at the most recent meeting of the Health Sector Oversight Body, and insisted that a clarification be issued to the system ensuring that Consultants recruited after 1st October 2012 could skip increments in the manner set out in the agreement.

We have since had it confirmed that this is indeed the case and a memo has been issued to the health system.

We would advise Consultant members to bring this memo to the attention of local HR and ensure that they are placed on the correct salary point in line with the agreement.

If you have any queries in this matter, please forward those to memberadvisoryunit@imo.ie.