The Irish Medical Organisation is to ballot its members on proposals from the Labour Relations Commission on consultants' pay and career structure.
However, the IMO will not make a recommendation on the issue to its members, saying while the proposals are an improvement on the existing terms, they "don't restore full parity among the consultant body".
The IMO says there is a real crisis in the Irish health services in terms of recruiting and retaining Irish trained doctors, which is exacerbated by the 30% pay cut imposed on new entrants in 2012.