Page 9 - IMO Consultant Guide

The Consultant Guide

The Salary Scales

Typically, the Consultant contract does not specify salary scales, but will instead refer you to the
relevant Department of Health circulars.
There are a number of Consultant salary scales in operation. It had been the standard practice that
salary would be determined by a number of factors, the most prominent of which was individual
access to private practice. However, during the last financial crisis, the then Government (and
successor administrations) decided that pay rates would be determined by date of employment. This
led to newly appointed Consultants being hit with unilateral pay reductions, which in turn led to a
Consultant recruitment crisis. It remains an ongoing priority for the IMO to have the reduction
imposed in September 2012 reversed in their entirety.

When the current Consultant contract was introduced, it was agreed that Consultants who opted to
transition from the 1997 contract would move to their new salary in three phased stages.

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1. 5% increase which was paid 14 September 2007
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2. Half of the balance due 1 June 2008 – paid 6 months later
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3. The remaining balance to be paid from 1 June 2009 – this was never paid.

The issue of the non-implementation of the final phase was challenged by a group of Consultants as it
was considered a breach of contract. A High Court Settlement ruled that those who signed the contract
between 25 July 2008 and 1 October 2012 would receive the increase that had been due in the third
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phase prospectively with a reduced amount payable in respect of retrospective remuneration denied.
If you have any queries regarding your salary, before signing a contract, or indeed after signing, please
contact the IMO.
The full scales as of 1st October 2020 are available in Appendix 1.

Incremental Credit & The New Entrant Agreement

In January 2015, the IMO negotiated new pay arrangements for those Consultants appointed after
September 2012. Among the terms of the agreement were the introduction of differential entry points
onto the relevant salary scale.

Incremental progression and salary scale entry points for Consultants, can be determined with
reference to the following criteria inter alia;

1. For time spent as a Consultant (permanent/ non-permanent or agency) in the Irish public
service.
2. For time spent employed as a Consultant equivalent in another jurisdiction
3. For post CSTST training relevant to the position applied for.

After your appointment you should move up one pay increment on your applicable scales for every
completed year of service.

As you may remember, incremental progression was frozen for a period of time. As part of the ‘un-
freezing’ the IMO represented Consultants in negotiating increment ‘skips’ agreed under the Public
Service New Entrant Agreement (2018). A New entrant can be defined as Consultant recruited on or
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after 1 January 2011 who subject to reductions in their pay.

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