Patients are being put at-risk due to long working hours by non-consultant hospital doctors.
That's according to junior doctor Brian Doyle, who says many are working well in excess of the law.
Dr Doyle told Lunchtime Live: "It is a challenging profession at the moment, it's one that I absolutely love.
"The issues we've been having from a work perspective, it really goes on over the last number of years in terms of excess working hours.
"We have a thing called the European Working Time Directive, which protects workers and patients in hospitals that says that doctors should not work more than 48 hours in a week.
"But regularly over 90% of our members are working greater than 48 hours in a week.
"And a majority are reporting also that they're having difficulty being paid for those hours".
He says a doctor will spend a quarter of their career doing this.
"About 35% of our doctors are working greater than 70 hours in a week I believe, from the surveys that we've done.
"And when you put this into perspective, about 25% of your career as a hospital doctor would be spent as a non-consultant hospital doctor.
"You're moving around every hospital in the country for about 25% of your career... you're constantly moving around trying to start a family, trying to settle into a community.
"At the same time, [you're] being faced with excessive hours.
"And this isn't just an NCHD welfare issue, this is also a patient safety issue."
Brian says doctors are not as alert after working very long shifts.
"If you're tired at the end of your shift and you're getting on the road, you're probably not safe to drive.
"You're probably not safe to be looking after patients at the end of a very, very long shift.
"So this is as much a patient safety issue as it is a welfare issue".
And he believes nothing has been done to help the situation.
"If you take all of the hospitals in Ireland, there's around 7,500 NCHDs - that's two-thirds of the doctors in our hospitals.
"These issues have been going on for years - and the HSE has failed year after year to sort it out".
Under the EU Working Time Directive, the average working time for each seven day period must not exceed 48 hours - including overtime.
