Industrial action by midwives at the private Bon Secours Hospital in Cork has been called off today to allow talks at the Labour Relation Commission.
Hospital management has agreed to attend a conciliation conference with the Irish Nurses' Organisation (INO), under the auspices of the LRC, tomorrow.
A lunchtime protest was threatened for today in the dispute over midwives' employment after the hospital closes its obstetrics department next year.
A decision was taken in November 2005 to discontinue obstetric services within the hospital from March 1st, 2007.
The hospital believes that the closure is covered under the transfer-of-undertakings legislation. Its wants midwives to either stay at the hospital and work in the general setting or seek employment in the new €75 million centralised maternity unit in Cork University Hospital.
However, the INO has said that the closure should be addressed under the Redundancy Payments Act, which would make a redundancy package available to midwives if they do not wish to move jobs.
INO industrial relations officer Michael Dineen said many of the midwives had "given their lives to the Bon Secours" and that moving to other jobs would mean "significant change in terms of work environment".
The maternity unit has had more than 100,000 deliveries since it opened in 1958. and it delivers around 1,800 babies a year.