Some 27,000 health service workers are to be balloted on industrial action in May unless the Health Service Executive (HSE) addresses a range of issues affecting their day- to-day working conditions.
The move, announced yesterday, means the health service could be paralysed by industrial unrest in the run-up to the general election.
About 40,000 nurses have already voted for industrial action, and last week the Irish Nurses Organisation (INO) gave the HSE 21 days notice of its intention to take part in rolling work stoppages.
Peter McLoone, Impact general secretary, last night met the Taoiseach Bertie Ahern and the Minister for Health Mary Harney to discuss problems his members have around implementation of the health service reform programme.
Ictu general secretary David Begg also attended.
Afterwards a Government spokeswoman said the meeting had been arranged since last week. "The focus of the meeting was how the partnership process could best be applied in pursuing shared goals for the Irish health service," she said. "Both sides agreed to reflect on the points made."
There was unanimous support at a special Impact conference in Dublin yesterday that its 27,000 health sector members should be balloted on industrial action in three months unless the HSE demonstrates a dramatic new approach which halts privatisation and involves staff in the implementation of genuine health service improvements.
Some 250 Impact delegates attending yesterday's conference, who ranged from administrative staff in the health service to speech and language therapists, said they felt utterly demoralised. They complained costly outside consultants were being hired rather than their expertise used to address problems at a time when social workers were not even being supplied with mobile phones.
Two years after the establishment of the HSE, staff were frustrated that its only defining characteristics were uncertainty and confusion, Impact health and welfare division national secretary Kevin Callinan said.
He added that if the Government proceeded with plans to sign contracts to allow private hospitals be built on the sites of eight public hospitals before the election, then "the people should give their arrogance the answer it deserves at the polls".
The HSE rejected criticism of it, saying it was pursuing a health reform programme that was ambitious and which was aimed at delivering a world-class health service for the whole population.
It added that staff were consulted on the reforms.
Meanwhile, it has emerged that Ms Harney has proposed the establishment of a new forum which could deal with controversial non- pay issues across the health service, such as the 35-hour week sought by nurses.
Department of Health sources said the proposed new body would not address pay claims, although it was accepted that there could be pay implications arising from an agreement on some issues.
It is understood the Cabinet has been informed about the Minister's initiative and that a Department of Health/HSE group is currently working on an outline of the form the process could take.
Apart from a 35-hour week, nurses are also seeking a 10 per cent pay rise. However, it is understood that Impact has signalled to the Government that if the pay claim by nurses were to be addressed outside of benchmarking, then other groups would follow suit.
Ms Harney said yesterday she believed some of the pay claims submitted by nursing unions "had legitimacy", but these could only be pursued in the context of public sector pay policy and changed work practices at local level.
She said she was surprised to read a story in The Irish Times yesterday that Fianna Fáil backbenchers wanted a softening of Government policy on nurses' pay.
She said she was pursuing public sector pay policy and that the matter had been discussed at Cabinet on Tuesday.