IMPACT says Staff at Ennis General are extremely unhappy that a new manager appointed by the HSE will earn a quarter of a million euro annually.
The trade union is ballotting staff at the hospital over the revelations made to the Public Accounts Committee by HSE Chief Tony O'Brien.
A member of the MidWest Health Forum Clare Councillor Ann Norton says she's shocked at the details.
Staff at Ennis General and other Hospitals in the MidWest are holding a ballot for industrial action as part of their anger over the 258 thousand euro salary of a senior manager in the UL hospitals group.
The workers are members of the IMPACT trade union, and their ballot is to sanction a refusal to report to the manager in question.
The senior figure has been hired through a management consultancy – if the HSE had filled the post directly then the salary would have been 116 thousand euro.
Independent Ennis Area Councillor Ann Norton is giving her backing to staff.
Separately, the Omnbudsman has announced an investigation into how complaints against public hospitals by patients and their families are handled.
Peter Tyndall says relatively few people complain when they're unhappy with the service from a hospital and he wants to find out why this is.
The investigation will include site visits and inspections of selected hospitals, interviews with front line and senior staff, focus groups with members of the public, consultation with interested groups and examination of complaints dealt with by the HSE and the Ombudsman.
Members of the public are being asked to share their experiences through the website: ombudsman-dot-gov-dot-ie.
