It was unclear last night whether the medical director of Peamount Hospital, Prof Luke Clancy, would proceed with an injunction to prevent the hospital terminating his contract with effect from today.
In a brief statement to The Irish Times, Prof Clancy said he was seeking legal advice. "I am not in a position to say anything else."
The decision by the hospital to terminate the contract of its medical director, who has been in the post since 1980, was unexpected, and has been criticised by senior medical sources.
Peamount Hospital is the national specialist referral centre for tuberculosis (TB).
A five-year strategic plan for the hospital, published last July, stated it wished to refocus its services to provide a range of rehabilitation and continuing care services.
The plan rejected what it termed "the chest hospital" option, which would have involved developing links between the 60-bed respiratory unit at Peamount and St James's Hospital, Dublin.
However, the decision to terminate Prof Clancy's contract was made in the absence of a precise time-frame to transfer TB services to another hospital.
A hospital spokeswoman said the restructuring at management level would have "no immediate impact on the TB unit".
However, it is understood that hospital management has been advised that it would be unsafe to admit new patients without recognised consultant cover.
A spokesperson for the hospital said last night that usual services, including TB admissions, would continue at Peamount from today.
In a statement, the spokesperson said Peamount was not an acute hospital, and has never had an approved consultant post in respiratory medicine. Less than 20 of the hospital's 350 beds were devoted to the treatment of TB patients.