Hospital consultants have warned that they may begin industrial action in the New Year as a result of an ongoing dispute over pay.

The consultants, all members of the Irish Medical Organisation (IMO), insist that patient safety is at risk because of pay discrimination affecting colleagues who were hired after October 1, 2012.

In 2012, the Government introduced a two-tier pay system for consultants working in public hospitals. In effect, this meant that anyone hired after October 1 in that year was paid 30% less than those employed before that date.

This reduction was on top of a 10% cut imposed on all new entrants to the public service during the austerity era.

The IMO said that this means hundreds of consultants are working alongside colleagues who are doing the same job, but they are earning €30,000-€55,000 less per year.

This has led to low morale and major problems filling vacancies, ‘with few or no applicants for what would have previously been considered highly sought after senior medical posts', the IMO noted.

There are currently almost 500 vacant consultant posts and this number is increasing as more consultants retire or resign from the public system.

"We are in the midst of a recruitment and retention crisis among consultants, with almost 500 unfilled consultant positions across the country, and this is directly impacting on patient care. It is impossible to justify a two-tier pay system for people doing the same job with the same qualifications and it is impossible to hire the consultants we need as long as we persist in paying them 30% less than their colleagues," commented IMO president, Dr Peadar Gilligan.

The IMO has again called on the Minister for Health, Simon Harris, to try to resolve this issue. Failure to enter into talks ‘will result in a ballot for industrial action', it said.

"Industrial action is the last step we would choose to take but our members are at the end of their tether. This issue has been long-footed by the Government for too long. The Minister for Health has recently confirmed his view that we need a process to resolve this issue and we are now calling on him to move to set up this process immediately," Dr Gilligan added.