The chairman of talks on a new contract for hospital consultants will today receive draft terms of a proposed contract that would see consultants work exclusively in public hospitals.
Health service management will deliver its proposed higher salary scales of up to €216,000 under the draft contract to senior counsel Mark Connaughton today.
The contract offers consultants two types of working arrangements, one with no private practice and the other allowing for fee-paying patients to be seen on a limited basis in public or co-located private hospitals.
A new contract for hospital consultants is one of the key elements of the Government's overall health care reforms. However, this process has been beset for years by delays and rows.
Health service management said last week that the current negotiations represented the last chance for an agreement for the foreseeable future.
If the talks are deemed unsuccessful, it is expected that the Government will press ahead and unilaterally introduce a new contract with revised terms and conditions.
The Irish Medical Organisation and the Irish Hospital Consultants' Association have warned that such a move would lead to a dispute.