Talks on a common contract for hospital consultants were continuing late last night, writes Padraig Yeates. They are due to conclude by 1 p.m. today. Negotiators for the 1,100 consultants were optimistic that agreement could be reached by today's deadline. The general secretary of the Irish Hospital Consultants' Association, Mr Finbarr Fitzpatrick, said: "We are nearing agreement in many areas of contention."
However, talks on the crucial area of finance, particularly concerning on-call and out-of-hours payments, only began yesterday evening. The Irish Medical Organisation's chief negotiator, Mr Conal Devine, said management demands for savings in this area posed serious problems.