A clause which had been in the draft new contracts on offer to all hospital consultants - which meant they would have had to get the permission of their hospital chief executive before speaking out on issues of concern - has been removed, the Health Service Executive said last night.
The HSE said that the new contracts, which will be on offer with 68 consultant posts advertised on new terms today, will not include a "gagging clause".
Gerard Barry, chief executive of the HSE employers agency, said that the new contracts would state that consultants may advocate on behalf of patients waiting for consultation or treatment as long as in the first instance they raise their concerns with their clinical director, who would also be a consultant.
After that, as long as they made it clear that they were speaking in a personal capacity, they could raise issues publicly, he indicated.
Mr Barry said that this issue would have been put to the bodies representing hospital consultants - the Irish Hospital Consultants' Association (IHCA) and the Irish Medical Organisation (IMO) - at talks last Monday had they not broken down prematurely.
The IHCA and IMO have said one of their main concerns about the new contracts was that consultants taking them up would not be able to advocate on behalf of patients.
Meanwhile, advertisements being placed today by the HSE seek 68 consultants in a range of specialities such as rheumatology, neurology, psychiatry, radiology and anaesthesia to work in hospitals around the country.
The IHCA pulled out of negotiations on a new consultants' contract on Monday over a decision to go ahead with the advertising of these posts on terms which had not been agreed. Along with the IMO, it has advised junior doctors at home and abroad not to apply for the posts.
Minister for Health Mary Harney yesterday urged the unions to "reconsider their position". She said that the new posts had attractive salaries. "The money being offered - €205,000 plus 20 per cent bonus - that's €245,000; plus €20,000 on call - that's €265,000. It's not an inconsiderable sum of money."
Furthermore, she said, the advertising of the posts could go hand in hand with continuing talks on a new contract.