Hospital consultants lose age discrimination pay claims

This report is a localnews.ie summary based on public court reporting and records; sources are listed below.

Eleven consultants lost age discrimination pay claims at the Workplace Relations Commission, with 61 test-case complaints rejected in decisions released on 1 March 2024. The cases concerned lower pay for consultants appointed after 1 October 2012 and were considered at public hearings between November 2022 and September 2023.

Adjudicator Orla Jones accepted that the pay difference arose from later appointment and the introduction of a 30 per cent salary cut, and found that grounds other than age explained the difference. She dismissed all the test cases as lawful.

A State witness estimated that the pay differential had saved the HSE about €440 million by the time of last summer’s hearings and continued to save €17.5 million annually. The doctors’ legal team disputed the calculation, saying the gross figures did not account for tax and social insurance returned to the exchequer.

The claimants could challenge the rulings at the Labour Court; the report said the deadline was close to the end of March. The IHCA said it was making no comment at that stage on whether it would appeal.