Talks today to resolve health dispute

The trade union IMPACT and health service employers will hold talks today aimed at ending industrial action that could cripple the Government's plans for introducing large-scale healthcare reforms from the beginning of January.

IMPACT members from this morning are to cease co-operation with the reforms, which would see the abolition of the health boards and a new Health Service Executive taking control of services.

An IMPACT spokesman told The Irish Times last night that patient services would not be affected by the industrial action.

The action, the spokesman, said, was limited to stopping all co-operation with the reform process.

The union, which represents over 25,000 health workers, wants safeguards over service continuity, jobs and working conditions when the new health service structures come into force at the beginning of January.

The union said industrial action could lead to a stalling of the reforms. Its national secre-tary, Mr Kevin Callinan, told the Health Service Employers Agency on Friday that detailed safeguards were required before the action would be called off. "We still have no sense that staff numbers will be protected in existing locations," he said.