Health employers and unions are to meet at the Labour Relations Commission this afternoon to discuss how to implement the European Working Time Directive (EWTD).
A report in today's Irish Timesrevealed it would be possible to roster a doctor for up to 11½ days in succession or for a doctor to work 91 hours in one week while still complying with the legislation, which is due to come into effect on August 1st.
Asked to comment on the possibility of doctors being asked to work such lengthy hours, Mr Fintan Hourihan, director of industrial relations with the IMO, said: "I am amazed at this suggestion that doctors continue to work a 91-hour week, which clearly flies in the face of the directive.
"It has not been discussed with the IMO and we will be raising concerns about it at today's meeting."
Mr Gerard Barry, chief executive of the Health Service Employers Agency (HSEA), while confirming such rosters were theoretically possible, said it was his wish to reach agreement "in keeping with both the spirit and the law of the EWTD.
"We need doctors' involvement in preparing the groundwork for implementing the EWTD. Hospital managers cannot do it on their own," he said.
Under the EWTD, non-consultant hospital doctors should not work over 58 hours a week, averaged over one year. They must be given 11 consecutive hours of rest within each 24-hour period and 35 consecutive hours of rest every seven days. However, the directive allows for periods of "equivalent compensatory rest".
The HSEA and the IMO will meet at 2 p.m. this afternoon.