The Government has "utterly failed" to provide a properly resourced health service to the people of Ireland, doctors have claimed.

According to the Irish Medical Organisation (IMO), the ongoing crisis in doctor recruitment and retention must be urgently tackled as it has now become a major factor in long waiting lists.

There are currently 520 consultant posts in Ireland that are either empty or staffed on a temporary basis, while 133 consultant posts are filled by doctors who are not on the specialist register.

Meanwhile, almost 100 pubic health doctors are due to retire in the next five years, however when posts are advertised, some receive few or no applications.

"The Government has utterly failed in its duty to provide the people of Ireland with a properly resourced health system and needs to act urgently before further damage is done.

"Sub-standard working conditions in understaffed hospitals are having a terrible impact on patient care and unconscionable pay inequality means doctors are emigrating in their thousands to countries that actually value the skills they provide," commented IMO president, Dr Padraig McGarry.

Consultants hired after October 2012 are paid 30% less than their colleagues hired before that date and the IMO insists that this is having a major impact on recruitment and retention.

Dr McGarry said that because of this "lack of respect and culture of neglect", Ireland now has the lowest number of medical specialists in the EU.

A recent survey undertaken by the IMO found that 83% of non-consultant hospital doctors (NCHDs) said that pay disparity at consultant level will have an impact on their decision about whether to apply for a consultant post in Ireland or not.

"Consultants now face pay inequality of up to €50,000 per annum based purely on when they were appointed, so it is no wonder they are leaving the country for health systems around the world that respect their skills and do not have a pay discrimination policy.

"Time and again, we have heard empty promises from a Government that cannot grasp the scale of the emergency we are facing - this needs to change," Dr McGarry said.

The IMO has published its 2020 pre-Budget Submission, in which it calls for an immediate end to the pay inequalities faced by consultants.

"There is not one area of the health service that has not been affected by the doctor recruitment and retention crisis. The Government needs to wake up to the fact that nothing is more important than the lives of our citizens. Irish people deserve a health system of which they can be proud, and without immediate investment, it will remain one of which we are all ashamed," Mr McGarry added.