A new report has urged that action be taken to close the pay gap between new entrant hospital consultants and those who have been in their posts for a number of years.

Health Minister James Reilly said he will refer the matter to the Labour Relations Commission.

Since late 2010, consultants taking up a post in Ireland for the first time have received a basic salary of between €95,000 and €121,000, while those already in post before that date are on basic salaries of between €138,000 and €182,000.

Medical organisations have protested that this is having an adverse affect on new consultants being appointed and on keeping consultants in their posts. The report concurs with this view and says the pay gap issue should be dealt with through negotiations by July of this year.

The report, by a Department of Health working group, stresses that pay anomalies and other matters, if left unaddressed, will adversely affect the recruitment and retention of consultants in future.

Pay rates for new consultants were controversially reduced by around 30% by Health Minister James Reilly in 2012.

In addition to the pay variation between new entrant and established consultants, the report also highlights issues including limited opportunities for more flexible and family-friendly work for consultants, and limited infrastructural and staff support for specialists in hospitals.

The report also points to the unattractiveness of the working environment for consultants in some smaller hospitals.

The working group has called on discussions to take place as a matter of urgency to address the barrier caused by the variation in rates of remuneration between new entrant consultants and their established peers that have emerged since 2012.

The report also says consultants should have a more varied career structure available to them, with greater opportunities for work in areas such as clinical management, research and academic work.

It recommends the development and introduction of a system of accountable personal development/work planning for all consultants.

This system should include an outline of the resources required to achieve the service and personal objectives set out in consultant work plans.

The report says the current reorganisation of hospitals into groups, with smaller hospitals developing closer links with larger centres, should be used to address the unattractiveness of the working environment for specialists in some smaller hospitals.

Commenting on the report, Health Minister James Reilly has said the barriers identified with regard to recruiting and retaining consultants were of concern to him.

He said he had written to the Labour Relations Commission to progress the recommendation regarding talks on the consultant pay issue, while he had asked the HSE to follow up on the other recommendations.