Contract talks to resume next month

Consultants: Talks between health service management and medical organisations on a new contract for hospital consultants could resume early next month.

The negotiations have been deadlocked for the past month or so following a row over the decision by the HSE board to abolish a category II post allowing consultants to treat fee-paying patients in private hospitals. There has also been disagreement on how payment for working a new contract should be determined.

It is understood that the independent chairman of the talks, senior counsel Mark Connaughton, has indicated to the parties that he believes there has been limited progress as a result of a series of bi-lateral meetings held over recent weeks.

Medical sources said last night that although provisional dates of this Thursday and next Thursday had been discussed for a resumption of negotiations, these would not go ahead for logistical reasons but that talks could take place in early April.

HSE sources said intensive efforts were ongoing behind the scenes to have the talks recommence. However, the exact nature of any new compromise proposals to break the impasse to be put to the parties by the chairman is as yet unclear.

Management negotiators have been given the go-ahead to "park" or suspend the implementation of the move to abolish the category II consultant post for the duration of the talks process. However, a HSE spokesman said there had been no change in policy of the board regarding the category II post.

Meanwhile, moves to resume the talks come as the Irish Hospital Consultants Association (IHCA) has signalled its first moves towards industrial action over the contract row. The IHCA has advised members not to take part in the recruitment of consultants to fill about a dozen posts advertised by health service management in recent weeks. IHCA members have been urged not to carry out any work in relation to the shortlisting of applicants or to serve on interview panels.

The Government is seeking to introduce a new contract which would see hospital consultants become salaried employees who would work exclusively in the public sector and have no rights to private practice.

Tánaiste Mary Harney has said if there was no progress on negotiating the new contract by spring, she would seek to impose the new arrangement on consultants recruited from that point.