Negotiations between the Health Service Executive (HSE) and Prof Brendan Drumm on the possibility of his still taking over as its chief executive are expected to continue today.
Talks broke down on June 1st when the HSE refused to guarantee he could return to a post as a consultant paediatrician at Our Lady's Hospital for Sick Children in Crumlin, after his term as HSE chief executive ended in five years.
Minister for Health Mary Harney said at the time she "couldn't justify having a bottomless pit" to meet the terms Prof Drumm wanted to have built into his contract.
All the indications were the HSE would have to conduct a third major trawl to finally find somebody to fill the €400,000-a- year post, from which another Irish doctor, Prof Aidan Halligan, walked away for "family reasons" after initially accepting it last year.
However, last week contact was renewed with Prof Drumm by the HSE and discussions took place yesterday aimed at finding a way of making him HSE chief executive, responsible for the day- to-day running of the health service and its €11 billion budget, after all.
Informed sources say they expect this round of negotiations to be successful.