Joan Burton talks of IMO agreement on consultants pay

Tánaiste Joan Burton said she understood an agreement had been reached with the Irish Medical Organisation (IMO) on new pay scales for consultants.

“Hopefully that will be successful because, as we know, many people who graduate from our medical schools go abroad, as they have always done, particularly to the United Kingdom and the United States for further experience,’’ she said.

She said she would like to see as many of them as possible coming home to build their careers in Ireland.

The Tánaiste was replying to Independent TD Tom Fleming who said it was worrying to hear a representative of the consultants and doctors group denying the report from Minister for Health Leo Varadkar that there had been an agreement on recruitment and salary scales.

“That issue must be addressed in the coming days and I ask the Tánaiste, the Taoiseach and the Minister for Health to get stuck into it because it is clear we are not prioritising the appointment of medical staff,’’ Mr Fleming said.

“Our nurses are under severe pressure as a result of an exodus of very well-qualified people who have left this country to seek work abroad because of various anomalies.’’

Mr Fleming referred to the recently published European health index for 2014, which gave a poor impression of the Irish health service.

“We are ranked 21 but, in 2013, we were ranked 14,’’ he said. “We have dramatically fallen back seven places in those 12 months.’’

He said health care inequity was very evident, with public patients often on never-ending waiting lists.

“Their cases are often deemed to be routine although, according to their GPs, they might be deemed otherwise. In most cases, a more urgent referral is required.’’

Ms Burton said the most important development for this year and last was the allocation of significant additional resources to the Health Service Executive (HSE).

She understood, she said, people would like it to have even more resources, as would she, but the Government was able to provide very significant additional resources in supplementary estimates.

Ms Burton said the European health index survey showed that, for certain outcomes, Ireland performed well compared to other countries.

“For example, we score very well on patients’ access to medications and to prevention services such as vaccinations and smoking cessation programmes,’’ she said.

“We also perform well on patient outcomes such as cancer survival and reducing deaths from strokes and heart attacks.’’

Ireland’s infant mortality rate was one of the lowest of all the countries in the survey, said Ms Burton.