In the public health doctors' dispute, there was no contact between the Health Services Employers Agency and the Irish Medical Organisation over the bank-holiday weekend.
Despite some media reports that informal contact had been made, both sides have confirmed that no negotiations have taken place since the brief intervention of the Labour Relations Commission last Thursday.
The dispute, which entered its fourth week yesterday, is primarily concerned with seeking consultant status for senior public-health specialists and the formal rostering and payment of all public-health doctors for out-of -hours work.
IMO sources said yesterday that a six-point strike escalation plan was discussed last Friday. A further meeting is planned for today and is likely to agree firm plans as to how and when an escalation of the dispute will occur.
It is understood the IMO is considering placing pickets on hospitals and that industrial action by GPs is also under active consideration. Such action is likely to target areas of work common to public health doctors and general practitioners, including not notifying health boards of infectious disease statistics.
The enforcement of the European directive on transport of dangerous substances is likely to be insisted upon, a move that could threaten the transport of childhood and other vaccines from health boards to GPs' surgeries.