The Department of Health, the Irish Hospital Consultants Association and the Irish Medical Organisation have reached agreement to almost double the number of consultants from 1,200 to 2,200 in the coming years.
The estimated £70 million cost of the increase will come from the £1 billion the Department has allocated for upgrading hospital services over the lifetime of the national development plan.
The IHCA secretary general, Mr Finbarr Fitzpatrick, said the "quick response" specialisations - obstetrics, surgery, medicine, anaesthesia and accident and emergency - would be the prime beneficiaries of the expansion.
The 1,000 new posts have been agreed as part of the Department's Manpower Forum, which is due to publish its recommendations in the coming weeks. As part of the agreement the consultants have agreed to new flexible hours, and a national scheme to assess hospital performance. The creation of new sub-consultant positions has been dropped.
Greater flexibility in the delivery of services is necessary if the full benefit of the new positions is to be used to maximum effect, Mr Fitzpatrick said. This means providing access to equipment and out-patient clinics outside the traditional 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. weekday hours.
"There is no reason why these services cannot be provided from 8 a.m. or after 5 p.m.," he said.
In addition to the new posts, a further 200 to 300 consultant positions will become vacant over the next seven years through retirements. Up to half of these posts are expected to be filled by experienced Irish medics who have been working abroad.
To fill the remainder will require an upgrading of the existing training structures. It is also expected to end the brain drain which has seen many talented doctors emigrating in recent years because of the shortage of promotional opportunities.
The major increase in consultant positions is needed to tackle the chronic shortage of consultants in some specialisations. There are currently nine obstetric units in Ireland which have two consultants each, yet which are supposed to be providing a 24-hour, year-round service, Mr Fitzpatrick said.
The shortage of consultants has threatened the training status of a number of hospitals, with training bodies recognising that junior doctors were not receiving adequate training opportunities.