Marathon talks bid to resolve hospital consultant issues

The midnight deadline to resolve disagreement between the HSE and hospital consultants passed last night with efforts continuing through the night to break the deadlock.

However, a spokesman for the Labour Relations Commission expressed doubt early this morning that this would happen today.

Talks between HSE management and representative bodies for hospital consultants were ongoing in a bid to resolve disagreement over productivity and reforms.

The talks, which began last Thursday and resumed at 9am yesterday, continued into a marathon session of intense negotiations at the LRC.

The talks are taking place between the Irish Hospital Consultants Association, the Irish Medical Organisation, the HSE, and the Departments of Health, and Public Expenditure and Reform.

Earlier sources said some progress had been made on a number of issues including rostering and reporting relationships to clinical directors in hospitals. However, key sticking points remained, including the reform of so-called historic rest days and a lower-paid entry grade for consultants.

If agreement is not reached, it is unclear whether the outstanding issues will be referred to the Labour Court in accordance with procedures of the Croke Park agreement. That process would result in a ruling binding on both parties.

However, last Thursday the IHCA described the commission talks as non-binding.

If the consultants do not go to the Labour Court, the Government is likely to seek a ruling from the Croke Park Implementation Body as to whether they are still covered by the protection from pay cuts.

If the implementation body found the consultants are outside the agreement, the Government could bring in legislation to cut pay. This, however, could trigger a legal challenge.

Hesitancy by consultants to initially engage in the talks sparked an angry response from Health Minister James Reilly. On Wednesday, he said he was losing patience “big time” with the HCA over its stance.

When the association agreed the following day to take part, Mr Reilly welcomed the breakthrough and stressed “the importance of all sides trying to reach agreement”.