Courts / Ireland / Report

Just 63 consultants on austerity-era contracts have signed up for SláinteCare, WRC told

Summary

In a Workplace Relations Commission hearing on 20 June 2023, a Department of Health official confirmed that only 63 hospital consultants hired on lower‑pay austerity contracts have signed up for the new SláinteCare contract since its launch in March. The hearing concerned age‑discrimination claims by a group of consultant doctors who argue that the 30 % pay cut applied to those hired after 1 October 2012 is an age‑based discrimination. The doctors, represented by the Irish Hospital Consultants' Association, claim they face a choice between continuing on the lower pay or accepting the SláinteCare contract, which forbids them from seeing private patients during their contracted week. The State denies the claims, and the case is scheduled to continue later in the summer. The hearing highlighted that 63 consultants have signed the new contract, a figure that the Department of Health said was only a couple of weeks old.

Who, what, where, when and why

What: Report matter: Just 63 consultants on austerity-era contracts have signed up for SláinteCare, WRC told. Procedural stage: trial

When:

• October 2012 Hearing Or Sentence
• 1 October 2012 Other
• 2000 to 2022 Other
• 2023-06-20 Publication

Why: If there is such perverse incentives it is because people go out and get private health cover. CNI source report

Places mentioned

Topics

Stage Trial

Read the original CNI report