A meeting between representatives of hospital consultants and the Tánaiste and Minister for Health, Ms Harney, last evening failed to resolve a long-running row over insurance for consultants being refused cover by a British company they paid subscriptions to.
The meeting was held in advance of an extraordinary general meeting of the Irish Hospital Consultants Association (IHCA) to be held on Sunday where members are due to agree plans to step up their campaign of industrial action over the failure to reach agreement on who will indemnify consultants refused cover by the Medical Defence Union (MDU) for claims made in the future arising out of medical negligence in the past.
The MDU, which claims it does not have the resources to provide such cover, has been in talks with the Department of Health for months on the issue.
While some progress was reported to have been made at the meeting between the IHCA and Ms Harney last evening, the secretary general of the IHCA, Mr Finbarr Fitzpatrick, said he remained pessimistic about an outcome being reached at this stage that would prevent industrial action.
"Some progress was made but there is definitely no agreement yet and there is no likelihood of an agreement being reached between now and our meeting on Sunday," he said.
"What was agreed was that legal representatives of the IHCA and the State will meet to discuss the letter the Tánaiste sent us last October," he added.
In that letter, the Tánaiste gave a commitment that nobody who had suffered from a medical mishap would be left without compensation and no consultant would be left without cover, in all reasonable circumstances and in accordance with the law.
The IHCA's legal advice was that the letter was not legally binding, however.
It wants the wording firmed up to give a cast-iron guarantee that no consultant who is refused assistance by the MDU will have to personally pay claims for damages.
Solicitors for both sides may meet later this week.
In a statement Ms Harney said she had reiterated at her meeting with the IHCA her commitment to finding a solution to the medical indemnity issue that would not jeopardise her legal or negotiating strategy with the MDU.
Mr Fitzpatrick said Sunday's meeting would proceed because there had been too many "false dawns" in the past.
He believes a plan for industrial action - which would involve consultants withdrawing from elective work and outpatient appointments in a month's time - will be drawn up at the meeting.