Industrial action: There has been little progess in talks between the IMPACT trade union and health service employers aimed at ending industrial action which is obstructing health service reforms.
The action, which began yesterday, has resulted in about 40 senior administrators withdrawing from the change management team which was put in place to oversee a transfer of health services from the soon-to-be-abolished health boards to the Health Services Executive (HSE).
It has resulted in a total of 15,000 health board workers, who are members of the union and who fear their jobs will be affected by the changes, refusing to co-operate with the health service reforms.
After a full day of talks at the offices of the Health Service Employers Agency (HSEA), the national secretary of IMPACT's Health and Welfare division, Mr Kevin Callinan, said last night that the talks were proceeding slowly and would reconvene at 10 a.m. today.
Early in the day, face-to-face talks, chaired by Mr Phil Flynn, took place between IMPACT and the HSEA, and both sides then broke for "some separate work", Mr Callinan said.
He said it was "too early to say" when a resolution to the dispute could be expected.
Mr Gerard Barry, chief executive of the HSEA, said his side would be putting fresh proposals on the table this morning when talks between the sides resume.
"The progress is a bit slow but we are keeping the dialogue alive," according to Mr Barry.
"It is too soon to predict how it will pan out ... we are making some headway but it is slow," he added.
He predicted that today would be an important day in the discussions.
IMPACT wants assurances that its members' jobs, working conditions and service continuity will be safeguarded when the new health service structures are put in place at the beginning of January.