Talks aimed at averting a nurses strike next week are due to get underway immediately.
Members of the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation are due to hold two-hour stoppages at seven hospitals next Thursday.
The dispute centres on conditions in Emergency Departments and the high number of patients waiting on trolleys.
The Minister for Health says the action will put patients at risk - and head of the Irish Patient Association's Stephen McMahon, agrees:
