Specialist registrars - working at the medical grade just below consultant level - have said they will not apply for controversial new hospital consultant posts advertised by the Health Service Executive (HSE) on revised terms.
A meeting attended by about 150 specialist registrars, organised by the Irish Medical Organisation (IMO) on Saturday, also urged anyone who had applied for one of the 68 new consultant posts advertised last week, to withdraw their application.
The IMO said nearly one-third of all specialist registrars in the country attended the meeting.
IMO director of industrial relations, Fintan Hourihan, said the main concerns of doctors at the meeting centered on resources, training requirements and standards, and patient advocacy restrictions.
He said doctors felt the posts as structured were essentially "a sub-consultant" grade.
Mr Hourihan said there had not been much debate at the meeting about the salary levels for the new posts, which run to €205,000 before bonuses.
The IMO and the Irish Hospital Consultants Association have said their members will not participate in the recruitment process for the new posts.
The IMO has also advised its non-consultant doctors not to apply for the positions.
Mr Hourihan said the IMO would consider any move by the HSE to advertise additional new consultant posts as an escalation of the dispute.
He said the IMO would hold a further meeting of specialist registrars in June if there were significant developments in the situation.
This meeting could consider issues such as legal challenges or some form of industrial action.
Meanwhile, the IMO also strongly criticised the criteria set out by the HSE for applicants for the posts.
It said that doctors who had not completed higher specialist training would be eligible for appointment under the terms published by the HSE.
This was rejected yesterday by the HSE which said that the Medical Council had stated that the criteria for the new posts were no different than for others established up to now.
Former IMO president, Dr Mick Molloy, said: "While we welcome the move to appoint extra consultants, the HSE should not be allowed to fill these posts with doctors who are either not eligible for the specialist register or who have not completed a recognised period of higher specialist training."
"To do so would dilute the highest standards of care currently provided to public patients by consultants in Irish hospitals, many of whom have practised in world-renowned centres of excellence to a standard far in excess of that required for entry into the specialist register itself," he said.
The IMO said that it would resume discussions with the HSE if it received an undertaking that the new consultant posts would only be filled on agreed terms.
