Martin urges striking doctors to return to Labour Court

The Minister for Health, Mr Martin, has urged all sides to return to the Labour Court in an effort to resolve the ongoing public health doctors dispute.

Speaking at the IMO conference in Killarney this afternoon, Mr Martin said he was making the appeal, "not on my own or my Department's behalf, but in the interest of the health of our population to reconsider your position."

The Irish Medical Organisation (IMO) said today it was not interested in last night's call by the National Implementation Body for the two sides to renew their talks. The NIB also recommended that industrial action be suspended.

However, the IMO said it held unsatisfactory talks with the Health Service Employers Agency (HSEA), which led to the industrial action. The Minister said the HSEA made an "informal offer" of 10.5 per cent at the Labour Relations Commission in March, but the IMO did not agree and the strike started on April 14th. He said he had approached the IMO leadership a number of times asking them to reconsider, but to no avail.

"The management side are and have been ready to return to the negotiation table, but it takes two to tango," Mr Martin said.

Mr Gerald Barry, the Chief Executive of the HSEA, said today this decision was disappointing. "There's only one way forward in this dispute," he said. "That's returning to the Labour Court." He insisted the HSEA brought "a number of positive offers" to the previous talks, but these were rejected by the IMO.

He accused the IMO of "looking for a predestined action" before they would enter talks, and also of trying to portray themselves as "innocent bystanders" in the dispute.

Around 270 doctors have been on strike for the past eleven days over pay and conditions. The actions of the doctors, whose responsibilities include tracking and monitoring infectious diseases, have come to the fore in the ongoing SARS situation.

The Public Health Doctors' Strike Committee agreed to allow six doctors to leave the picket lines to do follow-up contact tracing and monitoring in relation to the suspected case of SARS in Waterford.