Talks between the Health Service Executive and medical organisations on a new contract for hospital consultants have been adjourned and will resume in two weeks' time under an independent chairman.
Going into the discussions earlier, the Irish Medical Organisation described the HSE proposals, which were presented last night, as 'one rough page of ideas' which were supposed to replace the existing 60-page contract.
Fintan Hourihan, Director of Industrial Relations for the IMO, said several months of negotiations would be required.
Gerard Barry, Chief Executive of the HSE Employer Representative Division, said it was anxious to reach agreement with the medical profession on a new dedicated public hospital contract.
Mr Barry said the executive had presented a document of substance that was more than enough for substantive negotiations to get under way. He said until the end product was known it would be difficult to discuss salaries.
The Irish Hospital Consultants Association also attended today's talks. It has called the HSE document nothing more than a glorified press release.
HSE proposes 39-hour week
The HSE document proposes that hospital consultants in future work a 39-hour week under a clear work plan outlining their time spent dealing with emergency cases, operations and ward rounds.
It wants the country’s 2,000 consultants to work an extra seven hours on top of their existing weekly commitment and some would have to work at weekends.
The HSE also proposes that consultants work exclusively for public patients.
A consultant's performance would be reviewed each year and performance-related awards would be provided.
New super-consultants would manage services and be responsible for budgets.
