The Health Service Executive (HSE) Board has agreed to re-enter talks on the new hospital consultants contract.
In a brief statement issued tonight the HSE said it has agreed to re-enter negotiations with the Irish hospital Consultants Association (IHCA) and the Irish Medical Organisation (IMO) "and has accepted the approach advocated by the independent chairman, Mark Connaughton SC".
In a letter to all parties last week Mr Connaughton said that any new talks would have to be "an unequivocal agreement between the parties that there would be unconditional negotiations for a defined period of time".