Sir, – I was pleased to read that the discount supermarket, Aldi, is to increase its minimum wage for entry-level staff to €11.50 per hour. ("Aldi to create 400 new jobs in Ireland", October 26th).
Notwithstanding some of the more controversial points of the discount grocery trade, I think this pay rise is to be applauded.
It got me thinking, however, about other entry-level employees. I did a few sums and reckon that a newly-qualified doctor earns about €3 per hour more than a stock assistant in Aldi will. That would amount to about €3,000 per annum after tax (assuming a core 39-hour week).
The newly-qualified doctor will have to use this surplus to fund Medical Council registration fees, medical indemnity fees, mandatory training courses, post-graduate exams, lecture courses, conferences and many other miscellaneous professional expenses. The doctor may also be servicing a student loan of scores of thousands of euros. He or she will be worse off than their counterpart in Aldi.
My father has (wisely) on occasion told me that comparisons are odious, and I certainly don’t mean to cast aspersions on Aldi employees, who I believe are very deserving of their pay. Nor do I wish to ignore the fact that doctors’ pay increases with seniority and experience.
However, when the top minds in the HSE next convene to discuss in bemusement the continuing exodus of highly skilled Irish-qualified doctors from the professional register, perhaps they might pause to consider how other large employers treat their most junior staff. – Yours, etc,
DR JAMES MAHON,
Grand Canal Dock,
Dublin 2.