Talks between consultants and health employers to finalise the details of a new contract have been adjourned until next week.
Agreement on a new contract was announced by the Health Minister and the HSE last month following talks with consultants, but a final document has not yet been produced for a ballot of doctors.
The Irish Hospitals Consultants' Association described progress at today's four-hour meeting as exceedingly slow.
IHCA Secretary General Finbarr Fitzpatrick said the health employers may be trying to drag out the final stages of an agreement because of budgetary constraints this year.
