Hospital consultants in emergency meeting on contracts row
Hospital consultants are meeting in Dublin this afternoon to discuss the increasingly bitter row with the Minister for Health over new contracts.
Mary Harney has said she will seek the support of the Cabinet to hire new specialists - including hundreds from abroad - if the deadlock is not broken.
Talks between the two sides have effectively broken down and the consultants are staying tight-lipped as today's emergency meeting gets underway.
But Mary Harney has indicated her determination to ask the Cabinet on Wednesday for the go ahead to recruit a total of 1,500 new consultants on revised contract terms if consultants refuse to re-enter talks.
The Minister wants to see a number of doctors appointed to treat public patients only, in return for a higher salary. She also wants to limit consultants' use of public hospital facilities to treat private patients.
At today's meeting, the consultants will also vote on a motion of no confidence in the Health Service Executive and the Minister's plan to change the way the medical profession is regulated.
