No progress reported in doctors' talks

Talks between health service employers and striking public health doctors have broken up for the weekend without agreement.

The Irish Medical Organisation and the Health Service Employers Agency met at the Labour Relations Commission in Dublin today in an effort to end the eight-week-old strike.

The striking doctors, who are responsible for the monitoring of infectious diseases and other duties, are demanding improved pay and conditions, particularly a properly funded out-of-hours service.

They are also demanding consultant status and the implementation of a blueprint for the development of public health medicine.

Speaking after today's talks, IMO spokesman Fintan Hourihane said: "The first thing to say is that our claim remains.

"Secondly, the bulk of today's discussions have related to how the service will be provided, both in the community and in the departments of public health. We've said that it needs to be a consultant-led service. That remains our position and will continue to be our position in these discussions."

HSEA spokesman Gerard Barry said: "The proposals that we've put on the table in terms of structures has the potential to significantly improve public health both in quantitative and in qualitative terms and I've been encouraged by the discussions we've had with the IMO this morning on that issue.

"But it would be to misread the situation if one were not to understand that this dispute is primarily a pay dispute and on that issue we are still poles apart."