The vast majority of hospital consultant members of the Irish Medical Organisation have voted to reject plans by the the Department of Health to introduce a new way of insuring their practice from tomorrow.
Members were balloted on the proposals over the past week and when the votes were counted last evening, some 96 per cent of consultants had voted against the new insurance scheme, called enterprise liability.
Following the ballot, the IMO's director of industrial relations, Mr Fintan Hourihan, urged the Minister for Health, Mr Martin, to postpone the commencement of the scheme to allow further talks take place. He formally requested the Minister to meet the IMO again to discuss the matter further.
He said for the Minister to introduce enterprise liability without agreement was "a clear breach of the terms and conditions of the consultants common contract and the industrial peace clause of the Sustaining Progress agreement". The move would, he said, cause "profound and long lasting damage" to relations between the Department of Health and consultants.
The other body representing consultants, the Irish Hospital Consultants' Association, meets tomorrow to decide what protest action it will take against the introduction of the scheme. Some form of industrial action has not been ruled out.
The consultants' bodies are concerned that the new scheme does not cover historic liabilities. This is a worry because one of the bodies now insuring consultants, the Medical Defence Union (MDU), has said it may not be able to cover all past liabilities of obstetricians.
It wants to transfer these liabilities, which the Department claims could cost up to €800 million, to the State Claims Agency which will insure consultants from tomorrow. However it has only offered €60 million in return, which the Department of Health believes is insufficient.
Yesterday it was agreed the Department will meet the MDU again on Monday to see if it will make an improved offer to cover its liabilities.
A spokeswoman for the Department said last night there was no question of postponing the date for the introduction of enterprise liability, under which consultants and hospitals will be insured as one entity to cut costs.