Harney says new consultants are badly needed
The Minister for Health Mary Harney says new consultants are needed and we can't wait indefinitely for agreement on a new contract.
It emerged at the weekend that consultants are to engage in industrial action at public hospitals.
They're angry at the Minister's decision to push ahead with advertising new posts, before agreement is reached on contracts.
The national council of the Irish Hospital Consultants Association will meet on Saturday to review their position, and decide on exactly what course of action to take.
Minister Harney is standing firm, saying today: "We were in negotiations for two years, they weren't successful. We can't have a situation where patient treatment is delayed simply because we can't recruit new people.
"And we have proceeded with advertising for 68 new consultants and we had hoped that there would have been agreement, unfortunately there wasn't.
She added: "We can't have a situation where we wait indefinitely for new people until such time that the current consultants agree to the terms and conditions of a new contract."
