NEGOTIATIONS between the IMO and the health service employers on the contentious issue of pay and conditions for non-consultant house doctors (NCHDs) were nearing completion, the Minister for Health told the conference.
Mr Noonan said the negotiations had been long and complex and much time had been spent trying to resolve the "thorny issue of working hours". He added "Much imagination and energy has been lavished on a problem which seems to have defeated negotiators in many other countries.
"I am told agreement has been reached on a mechanism which has the potential to resolve the problem. I would hope other issues, such as training, will be addressed in the context of the discussions on new medical manpower structures."
Progress had also been made, Mr Noonan said, on consultants' pay and conditions. "The year 1995 also saw the Buckley Review Body begin its consideration of the pay and conditions of hospital consultants," he said. "This was overdue, and I was glad to have been able to persuade my colleague, the Minister for Finance, to ensure the Review Body gave priority to examining the position of consultants.
"The Review Body has presented its report to the Minister for Finance. I am confident it will be published in the near future and that the long anticipated negotiations on its implementation can commence, he added.
It was not often appreciated, Mr Noonan continued, that many if not most of the issues on which the Department of Health and the medical profession co-operated concerned service developments or initiatives to improve existing services, rather than money or industrial relations.
"Your organisation makes a unique contribution to this process," he said.