A pay hike for hospital consultants has failed to bring more into the sector.
The Sunday Business Post reports the rise agreed between the IMO and HSE last year is not having the desired effect of bringing more specialised doctors back to Ireland.
There are still no applications for about one in eight such posts, and the Irish Hospital Consultants Association says recruitment remains extremely challenging.
The Sunday Business Post reports a net increase of 92 in the number of consultants employed compared to the previous year.
The report says that according to the latest HSE figures, there were 2,727 full-time doctors working in the health service at the end of November.
The increase effectively reversed an earlier pay cut.
Other English-speaking countries are said to offer salaries that are "many multiples" higher than those being offered here.