The Irish Hospital Consultants' Association (IHCA) has said a revised offer on new consultants' contracts provides the basis for agreement.
IHCA assistant general secretary Dónal Duffy made the comment on the revised offer made late last night and added he was "confident" that the deal would be accepted by the association.
Speaking on RTÉ radio today Mr Duffy said the IHCA was confident that "a good deal for patients for the health service and for consultants" had been concluded.
Mary Harney
Minister for Health Mary Harney said she was "confident" the consultants will see that many of their concerns had been addressed in the new contract.
"I hope that consultants, not just in the IHCA, but in the IMO, will agree to the new contract and . . . agree to accept the new contracts which will overhaul our public health service very fundamentally," she said.
Ms Harney said she hoped a global recruitment campaign for consultants could now begin as 2,000 additional consultants are needed in the health service.
The idea of the new contract, she said was to encourage greater flexibility and changes in work practices and to ensure equal access to healthcare for all patients on the basis of medical need.
Under the new proposals, doctors opting for a contract that would see them work exclusively in public hospitals would receive a salary of up to €240,000.
The Irish Medical Organisation (IMO), which represents about 850 consultants, is not party to the deal at the moment. It withdrew from talks earlier in the week but agreed to go back into negotiations yesterday.
The IMO this evening said its negotiating team met with the talks chairperson today for more than two and a half hours and it was agreed that the parties would adjourn to resume discussions next week. "A comprehensive range of issues were discussed and it is clear that much detail needs to be worked on at this stage," said a spokeswoman. There was confusion last night over whether the long-running dispute had been settled.
Late last night, Ms Harney announced what she said was the successful conclusion of talks, saying the agreement marked a new era for the health service.
However, the IHCA quickly responded by saying the announcement was "premature" but added it had received a "revised offer" from the Health Services Executive that would be subjected to "a wide-ranging consultative process".
Mr Duffy revealed this morning that a meeting was then held with talks chairman Mark Connaughton SC, who clarified the details of a revised offer.
The offer is still subject to a consultation process, but Mr Duffy emphasised that he is confident it provided the basis for agreement. The deal will be presented to the IHCA National Council which convenes on February 15th.
The latest talks had been billed by the Government and health service managers as the final opportunity to reach a deal on a new contract for consultants.
Labour Party health spokeswoman Jan O'Sullivan said the agreement was a "welcome breakthrough" although there was still a "level of uncertainty" about where the IMO stands.
"This agreement paves the way for the recruitment of 2,000 additional consultants as promised in the Programme for Government, and the HSE must act with utmost urgency to fill those vacancies," she said.