Hospital consultants have said they will not accept any clause in new contracts stopping them from speaking out on problems in the health service.
The discussions with health service employers in Dublin are unconditional and are due to last around seven weeks.
Going into the discussions today, Gerard Barry of the HSE- Employers Agency said public patients must be placed on an equal footing with private patients in the hospital system.
Employers have tabled two contract options: one would provide for a consultant to work full-time in public duties during a 39-hour week; the other, with a lower salary, would permit limited private work, but this would be restricted to work on a public hospital campus or in one of the private hospitals due to be built on public hospital lands.
The Irish Medical Organisation's Fintan Hourihan described the timeframe for the talks as demanding and insisted that a range of contract options must be available to meet the needs of patients.
The Irish Hospital Consultants Association has warned that an attempt by employers to include a gagging clause to stop doctors speaking out about hospital conditions will not be accepted.
The talks Chairman, Mark Connaughton, is to submit an interim progress report on these talks to Government and the medical organisations this day week.
The battleground will be fought, as before, on restrictions on private work and new measures to make consultants more accountable.
