The IMO has warned it may seek a court injunction to prevent Health Minister James Reilly from imposing new terms and conditions on GPs without negotiation.

The union has said if Minister Reilly does not suspend the current consultation process on the proposed under sixes free GP care scheme and undertake proper negotiations on it within two weeks it will institute court proceedings.

The IMO claims that in planning to introduce free GP care for all under sixes, the Minister was seeking to replace the existing GP medical card contract without negotiation.

The union said it would consider seeking an injunction to prevent the Department introducing these changes without the agreement of the IMO.

"The proposals are obviously amendments of the existing contract negotiated between the Government and the IMO and there are clear procedures which must be honoured by both sides before any such changes can be introduced."

In a letter to Ministers James Reilly and Alex White, it has told them that it is not prohibited from negotiating under competition law or any law, as had been suggested. "On the contrary, the IMO has an entitlement to negotiate, both under statute and under the Constitution."

The IMO believes that the position adopted by the Competition Authority, which it says had challenged the IMO's right to negotiate on fees or terms and conditions for GPs, was 'fundamentally wrong' in law, as it was contrary to common sense.

The IMO told the Ministers GPs did not operate in a 'market' for GMS services.

The Competition Authority has previously objected to what it felt were IMO attempts to fix fees for GPs, and the issue is due to come before the courts shortly.

"The proposition that competition law has any role to play in preventing their representative body and registered trade union from negotiating on their behalf is untenable as a matter of policy and misconceived as a matter of law," the IMO said.

The union claimed the current consultation process was 'meaningless' as legislation on the under sixes scheme had yet to be published.

The doctors' union has also accused Health Minister Dr James Reilly of wanting to breach the confidential doctor-GP relationship.

The IMO accused the Minister of 'wanting to look over the shoulder of every GP in the country and second-guess their confidential advice to patients'.

It claims the draft GP contract drawn up by the Department of Health would make the Department and the HSE 'an invisible third party' at consultations between doctors and their patients.

At a press conference yesterday, IMO GP Chairman Dr Ray Walley claimed the draft contract had little to do with the provision of care for under sixes but was more about the HSE trying to take control of general practice, and that would be bad for patients.

The IMO claims that in planning to introduce free GP care for all under sixes, the Minister was seeking to replace the existing GP medical card contract without negotiation.