Health minister Fleur Agema is considering capping salaries for surgeons and other medical specialists at €246,000.

Agema said the government had agreed with the healthcare sector to come up with a plan to save €150 million on the wage bill, but so far no details have materialised.

The healthcare department needs to find at least €252 million in cost savings as part of a general package of budget cuts announced by finance minister Eelco Heinen last September.

The ministry must also find extra cash to make up a shortfall after MPs voted down a plan to raise VAT on cultural activity, newspapers and sport.

Medical specialists were exempted from a law that was introduced 12 years ago that said top public and semi-public sector workers were not allowed to earn more than the prime minister – known as the “Balkenende norm” after the prime minister at the time, Jan Peter Balkenende.

The average salary for medical specialists is €177,000, but a handful earn more than €300,000 a year.

The liberal VVD and other parties in parliament have opposed extending the Balkenende cap to medical specialists, arguing that it could prompt an exodus of top surgeons.

Agema admitted that the idea would not be welcomed by medics, but said she was open to other suggestions. “At the end of the day I need to balance the books,” she said.