The Public Health Committee of the Irish Medical Organisation (IMO) has welcomed an invitation from the Department of Health to talks to resolve the ongoing dispute between Public Health Doctors and the Department about the extension of Consultant status to Public Health.   

Dr. Ina Kelly, Chairperson of the Public Health Committee of the IMO has said that the onus was now clearly on the Department to resolve the issue and to extend Consultant status to public health as a matter of urgency; “We welcome this invitation to talks but what we really need now is action. This issue has been discussed enough. We need resolution and the resolution must be the implementation of  the repeated recommendations of various Government appointed committees who all agree that Consultant status must be extended to public health as is the case internationaly.”

In December IMO Public Health doctors voted overwhelmingly in favour of strike action as part of the dispute. Originally scheduled for 3 days in January, the Public Health Committee decided to suspend the strike action for the moment given the worsening situation with Covid 19. That decision is due to reviewed at the end of this month.