Irish hospital consultants are among the best paid in the world - according to new figures from the OECD.
However, Ireland spends less on health as a proportion of its wealth than any other country in Western Europe, the Irish Times reports.
It looks at consultants' pay only from public hospitals, and finds that they earn almost twice as much as consultants in Britain.
Starting salaries for consultants in Ireland were cut by almost a third in 2012 - but the government is expected to reverse some of this soon, due to a difficulty on filling hospital posts.
The Irish Hospital Consultants Association says the information from the OECD has many 'inconsistencies', and is pointing out that no data from the US and Canada is included - the main destinations for Irish consultants who choose to emigrate.
