Hospital consultants must co-operate with plans to reform the health service or the Government will move to tackle the issue, the Tánaiste warned today.
Tánaiste and Justice Minister Michael McDowell said the Government would move ahead with plans to recruit 1,500 extra consultants and implement new work contracts.
"What I really want to say is the time for all this mud wrestling is over and now is the time for action, and if they are not up for it the Government must act decisively," Mr McDowell said.
Health Minister Mary Harney has said unless the stalemate in the talks between consultants and the health services is resolved within days she will bring proposals to the Cabinet to solve the matter.
"First of all she wants to appoint between 1,500 and 1,600 extra consultants that must happen and there can be no further ifs and buts. Secondly in relation to the contracts that are there, category two contracts must be radically rewritten and that will happen," Mr McDowell told RTE Radio.
Talks between the two sides headed by an independent chairman have failed to progress over the past two months. Members of the Irish Hospital Consultants Association were meeting in Dublin today to discuss the row with the Government over collapsed talks on the new contract.
Ms Harney said the health service was looking for a public hospital contract that would see consultants commit to working on the sites of public hospitals alone. Consultants appointed under the proposed new contract would not be able to see fee-paying patients in off-site private hospitals.
It is believed they would be paid a higher salary of more than €200,000 to make up for the loss of earnings.
Fintan Hourihan of the Irish Medical Organisation (IMO) has said any move by the Health Minister to simply go ahead and advertise the consultants' posts could not be accepted.
Mr Hourihan said there was no evidence of consultants failing to discharge their public interest no matter if they have private patients elsewhere.
PA