The Minister for Health Mary Harney has accepted the final report on a new consultant contract by the independent chairman, Mr Mark Connaughton SC.
She said that she believed that the proposals represent an even-handed approach to the resolution of outstanding issues between health service employers and the consultants' representative organisations.
Professor Brendan Drumm, Ceo Health Service Executive
"The overall package on offer offers tremendous potential from which patients will benefit. This includes flexibility on extended working hours and development of local flexible working initiatives, new management structures involving clinical directors, team working and new disciplinary procedures," she said.
Professor Brendan Drumm, CEO of the HSE, said: "While acceptance of the full package requires all parties to compromise in some way on their original positions, it represents a balanced, fair and reasonable solution.
"There is now an unprecedented opportunity for consultants to become leaders in transforming the health service."
The issue of pay was not addressed by Mr Connaughton's report and will most likely have to be resolved by the Review Body on Higher Remuneration in the Public Sector.
Negotiations on a new contract have been ongoing since November 2005 but have stalled on a number of occasions often with bitter exchanges between the parties.
Consultants will consider the report tomorrow at its annual conference in Dublin.
They are being offered an annual salary of up to €216,000 to sign up to the new Type A contract, and up to €190,000 for the new Type B contract.
This offer relates to basic salary only. The potential annual earnings of a Type A contract holder would be in the region of €275,000 when weekend working and on-call, call out payments are included.
A Type A contract holder would exclusively work in the public sector while a Type B contract holder whole work 80 per cent in the public sector and up to 20 per cent in the private sector. The current basic salaries of Consultants range from €164,000 to €182,000 for a Category I Consultant, and from €147,000 to €162,000 for a Category 2 Consultant.
Category I or 2 consultant will not have to change their existing contracts for the new ones.
The main features of the recommended contracts are:
- Standard working hours for individual Consultants will be 37 hours per week (net).
- Consultants will be required to provide a scheduled on-duty on-site presence during an extended span of the working day and the working week as determined by the Clinical Director having regard to clinical and service need Schedules will provide for an 8am-8pm Monday-Friday (including public holidays) on-duty on-site commitment as part of the 37hour week.
- The introduction of Clinical Directors
- A new "one-for-all" equity of access arrangement for all out-patient diagnostic services will be introduced. This arrangement will be structured in such a way as to ensure that no prioritisation takes place based on ability/willingness to pay or source of referral.