Working week: The typical working week under the terms of the New 2023 Hospital Consultant contract comprises 37 hours of work. Of note, some of these hours proportionately and on an agreed basis with your Clinical Director, can be routinely worked outside a traditional Mon-Fri 9-5 week. This can include some evening and weekend work which is indeed already the case in most UK NHS hospital settings. In addition, there are on-call rotas which attract a separate payment which is also significantly and substantially higher than what is typically achieved in the NHS.

Annual Salary: Any years of previous work performed at consultant level will be recognised in your starting salary. Under the terms of the 2024-2026 Public Services Pay Agreement, A newly qualified Clinician consultant can expect to start on a basic salary of €222215 whilst a consultant who has 6 or more years experience will start on €266925. This pay agreement includes further incremental pay rises of up to 10.25% from January 2024 to June 2026. In addition, all consultants undertaking any on-call work will attract a basic “B factor” annual payment of €10586. In addition to on-call basic B factor payments, there are further hourly “C factor” payments ranging from €107.70 to €274.63 for emergency call outs during on-call periods.Academic Consultant appointments attract a further premium with basic salaries ranging from €231,227 to €323245 depending on Academic title and years experience in the role.

Consultants appointed to Clinical Director roles attract a further €54000 annual responsibility allowance.

A vouched CME annual fund of €12000 compliments the above salary arrangements.

Technically there is no country now called Southern Ireland. The history books will explain in greater detail but briefly, the term Southern Ireland historically referred to the 26 county jurisdiction that was established under the UK parliament 1920 Government of Ireland Act which partitioned the island of Ireland into two separate entities originally described as Northern and Southern Ireland. The counties in the North of the island comprise what is still known as Northern Ireland which has remained part of the United Kingdom.

Southern Ireland subsequently became known as the Republic of Ireland in 1948. Many people in Britain continue to refer to the Republic of Ireland as Southern Ireland which is why we have adopted this name for our company. The Republic of Ireland remains a member of the European Union whilst Northern Ireland, as part of the United Kingdom, is no longer an EU member following the Brexit referendum. Interestingly, the most northern part of Southern Ireland (Malin Head in County Donegal) is geographically the most northern part of the island as a whole.

No. We do not charge fees to our medical colleagues who are exploring a medical career in the Republic of Ireland. We will provide you with all the advice and support you need free of charge after you have registered with us.

Yes. If you would like to take advantage of our bespoke services. This includes an initial 30 minute career and lifestyle discussion and then help with your application including a tailored mock interview when the time arises. All of this is delivered by our experienced Clinical Director with an understanding of the Irish Healthcare system. You will need to register your contact information and provide a current CV (optional at registration) to facilitate this ongoing support. This allows us to get in touch with you so we can help you find your ideal career and lifestyle choice in the Republic of Ireland. Our initial online contact and subsequent meeting with you will be held at a mutually agreed early evening or weekend slot. Contact us on enquiries@southernirelanddoctors.com to arrange your meeting. We will not contact you by phone without your agreement.

When you decide to submit your CV, it is reviewed by our Clinical Director CEO. Following that, it will be securely stored in a GDPR compliant manner until needed as part of your unique application process. We will not share your CV with anyone without your specific agreement. We will not sell your information to third parties. Please refer to our privacy policy for more information. Together with a standardised application form, An up do date CV is mandatory for all consultant job applications in the Republic of Ireland. Our CD review will help ensure that your CV is as optimal as possible for a successful application.

Yes we can. It is accepted by HSE and the Irish Medical unions that there are between 500 and 900 substantive consultant positions in the Republic of Ireland that currently need to be filled across most specialties. There are also intentions to expand the current consultant workforce by up to a further 2000 positions over the next 5-10 years. Not all of these posts are advertised at the same time particularly when short term locums or temporary posts are currently occupied.

The Health Service Executive (HSE) is essentially the Irish equivalent body to the National Health Service (NHS) in the United Kingdom. It is the statutory body responsible for the provision of both public health and social care services in the Republic of Ireland. The HSE oversees hospitals, clinics, nursing homes and community health services throughout the country. It collaborates with various organisations including the Third sector and Local Authorities to deliver health and social care needs to the people of Ireland.

The Public Appointments Service (PAS) is the centralised provider of recruitment, assessment and selection services for public bodies in the Republic of Ireland including the HSE. When you decide to proceed with an application for a consultant post it will be through this body.

In a word No. If you are successful with your application however, you have a period of up to 6 months to get yourself registered as a doctor and specialist with the Irish Medical Council. If you are not registered in this time, then the post may be offered to the next most suitable candidate.

You will need to register with PAS to apply for a post. The Application form itself is quite detailed but most consultants will be well equipped to answer all questions. Our Southern Ireland Doctors Clinical Director has been through the process himself. He can review your application (and CV) with you to help ensure you have presented your expertise in the best possible manner. Once shortlisted, you will then have a challenging interview. Once again, our CD can help prepare you for this using our tailored question bank, personal experience of the Irish process as well as several years of experience in recruiting consultants in the National Health Service.

Southern Ireland Doctors has primarily been established to support UK, EU and overseas Consultants working in developed countries secure a substantive post in the Republic of Ireland. That stated, we are also in a position to help Primary care Colleagues secure a similar post and career here. This will commonly be in the context of a physician couple with nuanced geography taken into account, but we can also help colleagues who are seeking to establish a primary care GP career in in their own right. We have a thriving contact network across Southern Ireland that can help you make the right decision for you and we can support you in your career aspirations and journey to make these happen. The Irish College of General Practitioners icgp.ie is also the go to site for all the information you will need about working as a GP in the Republic of Ireland.

Doctors in the Republic of Ireland are registered and regulated by the Irish Medical Council. This is a very similar model to what occurs in the United Kingdom with the General Medical Council.

Yes. The two main doctors unions in Ireland are the Irish Medical Organisation and the Irish Hospital Consultants Association . Trainee and Primary care colleagues often join the former whilst hospital consultants commonly but not always join the latter.

Interestingly, established consultants already working in Ireland have voted by a reasonable majority not to accept the new consultant contract. There are various reasons cited for this and these consultants will continue to work on their old contract. This will in particular allow them to continue to provide care for private patients in public hospitals albeit with a significantly lower public salary compared to the New Consultant 2023 contract. All new consultants who decide to work in the Republic of Ireland will only be offered terms under the New 2023 Consultant contract. Ironically, the terms of this new contract are vastly superior to those offered in the 4 UK NHS jurisdictions which have led to industrial unrest here.

Yes, you can undertake private practice if you wish to. The only stipulation, similar to what we are familiar with in the United Kingdom, is that private work cannot be undertaken during public work hours.

You will automatically be enrolled in both the state contributory pension scheme and the HSE employers work based scheme. For the latter, The pension contributions rules in Southern Ireland, just like the UK, are nuanced. Tax advantages and benefits on contributions increase as your age increases. In simple terms, the Standard Fund Threshold (UK equivalent Lifetime Allowance) for PAYE contributions is 2 million euro. Private income and that received through company income is treated separately and has attractive tax advantages too.

With regard to annual contributions (UK equivalent Annual Allowance), the maximum you can contribute each year to your pension to qualify for full tax relief is based on your age. Essentially the older you are the greater the amount of PAYE income you can divert to your pension fund which qualifies for higher rate (40%) tax relief. 15% of your PAYE salary if aged 20-29, 20% if aged 30-39, 25% if aged 40-49, 30% if aged 50-54, 35% if aged 55-59 and 40% if over 60. The qualifying contribution limit is set at E115000 euro of taxable PAYE income each year.

Tax bills can be easily avoided by designating how much of your salary you wish to put aside to your pension pot with maximum savings made as contributions increase with your age. Your Republic of Ireland pension pot will be treated separately to any pension you have in a third country such as the United Kingdom so you are essentially able to build a new 2 million euro pot under the Irish taxation system. As always, it is sensible to seek professional advice when it comes to planning for your pension.

Happily, despite Brexit, the Republic of Ireland and the United Kingdom share a longstanding historical common travel area. This essentially means unobstructed and unfettered access for residents between both countries including the right to live and work in each others jurisdictions. Brexit has established the United kingdom as a “third country” which affects many aspects of relationships between the flow of goods and services between the UK and the Republic of Ireland. Whilst applications are treated on their individual merits, the Irish Medical Council has largely tried to adopt a sensible and pragmatic approach to the recognition of primary and specialist qualifications acquired in the United Kingdom. Unlike many other jurisdictions outside this common travel area and the EU, including the USA, Middle East and Australia/New Zealand, a complex and lengthy full assessment and application pack is not usually required to register as a doctor or specialist in the Republic of Ireland for UK trained consultants or GP doctors. Further details on the processes required to register as a doctor and hospital specialist in the Republic of Ireland are provided at www.medicalcouncil.ie. Southern Ireland Doctors can also help you with your registration process where required including sharing helpful discussions and correspondence already made with the Irish Medical Council on the implications of Brexit.

If you decide to move away from the UK to live work and reside in the Republic of Ireland but still maintain your UK GMC registration and Licence to Practice (LTP), you would still be required to engage in the GMC revalidation process, which will mean carrying out annual appraisals, which will form part of your 5 year cycle for revalidation. As you will not be in the UK you will not be able to connect to a Designated Body (DB) who are usually responsible for carrying out appraisals and subsequent revalidation recommendations. Therefore in order to engage in the whole revalidation process in the UK, you would need to update your connection to the Annual returns process for doctors with No prescribed connection (NPC) , which means it will be your responsibility to submit an annual return to the GMC through your GMC Online account, with the support of an independent appraiser. This is usually the best option if you are planning to stay overseas short term, and are planning on returning back to practice in the UK after a short period. Alternatively, you can choose to retain your registration with the GMC but Give up your Licence to practice. Once your licence to practise has been relinquished you would no longer be required to take part in the UK GMC revalidation process until you applied to restore the licence, this is usually the best option if you are planning on staying out of the UK for 6-12 months or more. In future, there may well be greater recognition between the UK and EU (including the Republic of Ireland) regarding recognition of each others processes with respect to revalidation. But this is not present currently.

There is no formal Revalidation process in the Republic of Ireland yet. An annual appraisal and job plan review with your Clinical Director help consultants to establish annual Personal Development Plans and service requirements.

Before commencing employment in exposure prone procedure posts, you will need to demonstrate that you are not an infectious carrier of Hepatitis B or Hepatitis C virus. A UK NHS Occupational Health certificate is acceptable evidence in this regard.

Substantive Consultant appointments also attract a 6 month probationary period from when work commences.

A generous relocation package is also available to all international appointees.

This includes:

a)Initial 3 month accommodation costs and flight expenses up to 4710 Euro

b)Full reimbursement of all IMC professional registration fees

c) Visa fees where applicable

Further information on the re-location benefits package can be found via: resourcingandreform@hse.ie

If you have trained in the European Union or are recognised as a specialist in the European Union or European Economic Area, you will have your qualifications automatically recognised by the Irish Medical Council.

If you have trained and are working in a World Trade Organisation recognised “developed country” wto.org then we can help you in your journey towards securing a substantive consultant or General Practice career in the Republic of Ireland. We do not support the direct recruitment of doctors from either developing or least-developed countries. The Registration process is more onerous than for a UK or EU trained specialist but certainly very achievable and something we can also help you with. We can also provide bespoke consultant to consultant support to you in your post application and interview when that time comes in your journey

Yes. Firstly, check your family tree. If you have a parent or grandparent who is/was an Irish citizen, then you are already entitled to an Irish passport and EU privileges. Alternatively, after 5 years of residence in the Republic of Ireland, you will become eligible to apply for Irish citizenship and related EU benefits through the Naturalisation process. Further information on the process can be acquired through the Irish Government website www.gov.ie/en/service/irish-citizenship-application or www.inis.gov.ie the Irish Immigration and Naturalisation service. Note, www.gov.ie is the Republic of Ireland equivalent of the trusted United Kingdom gov.uk website.

No. Whilst Irish (Gaelic) is constitutionally recognised as the first official language of the Republic of Ireland, English is the spoken language used by almost everyone in the country. All Schoolchildren will learn Irish in Primary school and most continue this into Post-Primary school too.