Dentists join doctors in calling for proper negotiations with state on health reforms
The Irish Dental Union (IDU) has outlined its support for the Irish Medical Organisation (IMO) in its call for collective bargaining on the contractual terms of providing free GP services to children under the age of six.
In a submission to the HSE regarding the draft contract for the scheme on February 19, the IDU objected to the notion that “fees could be amended by the Minister for Health from time to time, following consultation (clause 21)”.
The IDU believe that this clause suggests that doctors, dentists, and others will have different rules applied to them than their colleagues who are covered by national pay agreements and are entitled to have their unions represent them in collective bargaining with the state.
The Union have stressed in their submission that they be afforded the right to negotiate on behalf of dentists, as they have for many decades in regard to the Dental Treatment Services Scheme (DTSS), operated by the HSE, and the Dental Treatment Benefit Scheme (DTBS), operated by the Department of Social Protection.
The submission concluded by stating: “The interests of the public are best served by ending the stubborn persistence by the Department of Health and HSE in seeking to deny the right to collective bargaining to members of the IMO, the IDU, and other registered trade unions.”