The Irish Medical Organisation (IMO) is to meet this afternoon to discuss its response to a report aimed at resolving the row over hospital consultant contracts.
The report - circulated late last week by the independent chairman of the negotiations, Mark Connaughton SC - contained recommendations on how a number of final obstacles to agreement might be reached.
Mr Connaughton's report said consultants' working hours should increase from 33 to 37 hours a week and that they should be rostered to work on site in hospitals between 8am and 8pm Monday to Friday and for five hours on Saturdays and Sundays.
The IMO is expected to follow the Irish Hospital Consultants' Association (IHCA) in accepting Mr Connaughton's recommendations.
Minister for Health Mary Harney welcomed the IHCA's decision over the weekend and said she felt the essence of a new contract was agreed. There could be no question of negotiations continuing for another several years, she warned.