reland is in breach of an EU directive on working hours for Junior Doctors.

The directive governs the maximum hours that EU citizens work, and minimum rest periods.

A legal opinion by the European Court of Justice - published this morning - states that by excluding the training hours for non-consultant hospital doctors from "working time", Ireland was in breach of the directive.

It says there were 'numerous cases' where junior doctors here were regularly required to work continuous 36-hour shifts, to work more than 100 hours in a single week or 70-75 hours on average, and to work without adequate breaks.

Dr Niall Kelly is from the Irish Medical Organisation.

He says he is hopeful about the final ruling which is due to be published before the end of the year: