No attempt has been made by Government to address the significant pay differential for consultants doing the same work but recruited since 2012   Without meaningful engagement by Government with the IMO  the threat of industrial action remains   September 24th 2018: The IMO expressed disappointment and concern today at the Government presented proposals for dealing with the pay scales of New Entrants in the Public Service.  The proposals do not acknowledge or deal with the very significant pay disparity between so called “new entrant consultants” those recruited post 1st October 2012 and their colleagues who were recruited and in post prior to 1st October 2012.  Consultants, unlike any other public servant were subject to not only the 10% new entrant cut but also a further 30% cut and while efforts to alleviate the issue were made in 2015 the disparity will rise to up to €50,000 a year for colleagues doing the same job and carrying the same level of responsibility.   Speaking today Dr Peadar Gilligan, President of the IMO said “While we recognise these proposals will benefit many public servants, for consultants the principle of equal pay for equal work is not addressed and the disparity is so significant that it is all the more surprising that Government did not seek to engage with the IMO on this specific matter. We have a situation in Ireland where we have 500 unfilled Consultant posts and in fact we need to recruit twice that number to meet a safe level of service for patients, yet currently  the Irish Health service can in very many cases attract not even one applicant for consultant posts.”   “We continue to be at crisis point.  We can no longer seek to  pretend that waiting lists, elective operations and patient care will not deteriorate. If we want to ensure patients have a consultant delivered service we need consultants yet this Government appear to be doing their utmost to ensure that the matter is not addressed and the Government message to consultants is we will not pay equal pay for equal work”.   The IMO is currently engaging in a consultation process with members as to the potential for industrial action in the event that Government refuse to engage in any meaningful way.