The Irish Medical Organisation (IMO) is hopeful discussions with the Department of Health will resolve a dispute, which would have seen doctors go on strike this month.
Public Health doctors want to be entitled to consultant status, like other branches of the Health Service.
Members of the IMO last year voted in favour of strike action — which has not happened due to the surging cases of Covid-19 this month.
Consultancy status
Dr Ina Kelly from the IMO says lack of consultancy status is affecting Public Health's ability to bring in new staff.
Dr Kelly said: “The numbers are very small over the years and of course Irish doctors are very popular in other countries and recruitment in other countries has been going on for the last few months.”
She added: “The UK is an example of this [recruitment of Irish public health doctors] and remote working is acceptable for certain areas of public health medicine so some of our colleagues have already got job offers in other countries and they have to make a decision whether they're going to take them up or not."
