Hospital consultants are to be offered a salary of €250,000 a year to commit to a new public-only work contract, under a new proposal from the Government.
Taoiseach Leo Varadkar told the Dáil that the salary range will be €180,000-€222,000, rising to €250,000 a year from next year.
The contract will be offered to new consultants and existing consultants who agreed to only do public work.
The Government is also promising to appoint a net 1,000 extra consultants over the next ten years.
Mr Varadkar said the two tier system was wrong and that Cabinet had agreed to the proposals yesterday.
The recommendation for a public only contract was made in the all-party SláinteCare Report published in May 2017 and the deButleir Report published in October.
Currently, according to the de Butleir Report, consultants appointed before October 2012 who agreed to a public-only contract earn between €177,800 - €213,200 a year for that work.
Consultants appointed since October 2012 are paid a lower rate, ranging from €135,600 - €187,700 a year for agreeing to do public work only.
The Irish Medical Organisation has said it notes the proposal by the Taoiseach to offer public-only consultant contracts to all consultants. It said there will have to be negotiations on the issue.
The union said that in the absence of such negotiations, its plans for industrial action in the New Year continue.
Minister for Health Simon Harris said the top level of consultant pay of €252,000 for specialists who agree to take up a public-only contract is one of the highest rates in the OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development) area.
He said the process of engagement with the Irish Medical Organisation will begin next month.
Minister for Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, Paschal Donohoe said the pay elements of the proposals are fixed.
The new contracts will be the only ones offered from the middle of next year but no doctor will be forced to change.
The Irish Hospital Consultants Association said the proposal as put forward had been tried twice before, failing both times.
It added that the proposals outlined will create an annual funding hole of €650m in cash-starved public hospitals and wreak havoc on patients.
