Public health doctors have called for a personal assurance from Minister for Health, Mr Martin, that employers are "prepared and fully briefed" to bring dispute talks to end.
The call was made by the Irish Medical Organisation (IMO) in response to Mr Martin's defence of his statement in the Dáil on Tuesday to Mr George McNeice, chief executive officer of the IMO.
Mr Martin told the IMO yesterday he stood over his statement and rejected their interpretation of several matters.
While the minister emphasised the Health Service Employment Agency (HSEA) and the Department of Health accepted the recommendations contained in the Brennan report, he said it also contained "diverging views in relation to two specific issues", namely the IMO's requests for consultant status for specialists in public health medicine.
Mr Martin noted in his reply that the IMO were claiming salary increases "significantly in excess of the 30 per cent" he thought was being sought.
Mr McNeice denied last night that the public health doctors were seeking more than a 30 per cent increase and said that the 30 per cent pay claim was "the price our members have paid for the continued mismanagement and procrastination of the employer side over many years".
The Minister requested once more that the IMO return to the Labour Relations Commission to continue negotiations, or seek a joint referral with the HSEA to the Labour Court.
However, Mr McNeice said the IMO were happy to attend further talks, provided they receive "written confirmation of the purpose and agenda for such talks".
A spokeswoman for the Department of Health and Children said last night that "the issues outlined by the IMO in their letter on Wednesday certainly would constitute an agenda".
"We are more than willing to discuss but the best place to do that is in the Labour Relations Commission," she said. Meanwhile, GPs and hospital staff have emergency contact numbers for contingency groups in each region over the Easter weekend.