Talks between hospital consultants and health service employers on a new contract are expected to resume tomorrow week.
All sides are understood to have set aside Tuesday, February 20th, and Wednesday, February 21st, for a resumption of the negotiations which have been dogged by a lack of progress for two years.
Last week the Government set a seven-week deadline for talks to be concluded successfully, meaning a deal will have to be done by March 27th.
But Finbarr Fitzpatrick, general secretary of the Irish Hospital Consultants' Association (IHCA), which represents the majority of consultants in the State, yesterday expressed doubt about a deal being struck by that date, saying the seven-week timeframe was unrealistic.
Moreover, he said he didn't believe the independent chairman of the talks, Mark Connaughton SC, foresaw the work being completed in seven weeks either.
"I don't think there is anybody around the table, certainly among those of us who have been through previous rounds of negotiations, who would be optimistic about concluding a contract in seven weeks," he said.
This was because full details of a new contract had yet to be put on the table - only a draft contract was presented last November by the Health Service Executive (HSE), and then when a core contact is agreed for the majority of consultants, a number of versions of it will have to be agreed for academics in medicine and dentistry.
But he said he believed significant progress could be made within the seven weeks.
The Irish Medical Organisation (IMO), which also represents hospital consultants, has a similar view. Fintan Hourihan, its director of industrial relations, said: "I wouldn't have thought it possible to conclude it in seven weeks given the scope, detail and magnitude involved . . . but I would be hopeful substantial progress would be made within seven weeks".
Meanwhile, Mr Fitzpatrick told RTÉ's This Week programme yesterday he was aware of several cases in recent years in which consultants had blown the whistle on colleagues, even if three obstetricians exonerated the practice of Dr Michael Neary in 1998, shortly before he was suspended from his post for unnecessarily removing the wombs of patients. Dr Neary was later struck off the medical register.
The Lourdes Hospital inquiry report, published last year, said the three obstetricians' reports were "motivated by compassion and collegiality" and were commissioned by the IHCA.
The Medical Council last week found the three obstetricians - Prof Walter Prendiville, consultant obstetrician and gynaecologist at the Coombe hospital; Dr John Murphy, consultant obstetrician and gynaecologist at the Holles Street; and Dr Bernard Stuart of the Coombe - guilty of professional misconduct for what they did.