Consultants call for action to avert major dispute

ONE of the hospital consultant organisations involved in the collapsed talks on new contracts has called for decisive action to avoid an irreparably damaging dispute.

The Irish Medical Organisation (IMO) said the talks could be back on track again if the employer side gave an assurance that the 68 consultant posts being advertised would be filled on agreed contractual terms.

The other consultants’ group, the Irish Hospital Consultants’ Association (IHCA), pulled out of the talks on Monday over the decision to advertise the posts on terms that had not been agreed.