Harney to press ahead with hiring 1,500 new consultants

Minister for Health Mary Harney has set the stage for a showdown with hospital doctors after saying she intends to press ahead with hiring 1,500 new consultants next week.

Ms Harney says she will bring proposals to the Cabinet next week regardless of the views of the existing consultants.

The move comes despite a decision by the Irish Hospital Consultants Association over the weekend to continue with contract negotiations on the matter as long as there are no preconditions.

Ms Harney and the Health Service Executive both blamed consultants last week for the lack of progress during the negotiations.

The Department of Health also responded to this weekend's development by saying it could not see how meaningful talks could take place given the fact that the IHCA also passed a motion of no confidence in the HSE team involved in the talks.

Speaking today, Ms Harney said her patience had run out and she would be pressing ahead with hiring new consultants as soon as possible on new contracts.

"It is a case of ensuring that government policy is implemented, that we have a tight time-frame, that we have a firm sense of purpose and that we don't go around the table again with no deadlines, no timeframes and no sense of purpose," she said. "I'm not going to allow that happen."