Doctors' representative organisations are likely to agree to the negligence liabilities of hospital consultants being taken over by the State Claims Agency following Cabinet discussions on the issue to be held today.
The Irish Times has learned that today's Cabinet meeting will consider specific proposals from the Minister for Health, Mr Martin, to address outstanding issues concerning insurance cover for private practice and responsibility for historic claims pre-dating the introduction of enterprise liability.
Since March 2001, all obstetric liabilities have effectively been covered by an enterprise liability scheme in which both the doctor and the hospital are considered to be a single "enterprise" and insured as such.
Earlier this year, the Cabinet decided to extend enterprise liability to all consultants, but this has been resisted by doctors' representatives pending the resolution of concerns surrounding clinical autonomy, private practice and the issue of who would pay for historic liabilities.
During the summer, the Medical Defence Union, a British-based medical indemnity organisation, called on the Department of Health to pick up the cost of medical negligence claims arising from obstetric work done in public hospitals here before March 2001. It indicated that it could not guarantee being able to defend its former obstetric members for past liabilities.
Responding to reports of today's Cabinet agenda, Mr Fintan Hourihan, director of industrial relations at the Irish Medical Organisation said three fundamental areas needed to be addressed and "could not be imposed without agreement".
"The issue of private practice, historic claims liability and clinical autonomy must be dealt with in detail," he said.
Mr Finbarr Fitzpatrick, secretary general of the Irish Hospital Consultants Association, whose annual general meeting takes place in Limerick on Saturday, said "depending on the outcome of the Cabinet meeting we hope to be in a position to put the greater part of a package to our members before the weekend".