Unions in the health sector will meet again in the coming weeks before deciding whether to undertake an all-out strike in support of the industrial action currently under way by public-health doctors.
Yesterday the Irish Medical Organisation (IMO) met with the Irish Congress of Trade Unions (ICTU) in Dublin to brief it on the dispute and to make an application to Congress for an all-out picket.
No decision was taken as to whether an all-out picket should take place.
After the briefing, ICTU said it empathised "with the IMO in respect of difficulties experienced by them in attempting to engage health sector employers and the Department of Health in meaningful negotiations on the issues in dispute".
It added all of the unions present recounted similar difficulties with employers in the health sector.
The unions will now consider the IMO application for an all-out picket and will consult its members on the issue before congress is convened again.
A spokesman for ICTU said members of the unions involved would have to be balloted before an all-out picket could go ahead.
He added such action would only be taken if provision was made for emergency health cover during any all-out picket.
"In the interim, Congress is calling on all parties to engage in meaningful negotiations to find a resolution to this long-running dispute," ICTU said last night.
Yesterday the IMO said its General Practitioners' Committee had voted unanimously in favour of balloting GP members in support of public-health doctors.