Talks between nursing unions and health service management aimed at resolving the ongoing dispute involving more than 40,000 nurses have resumed this afternoon at Government Buildings
The talks, under the auspices of the National Implementation Body - the main troubleshooting mechanism under the social partnership process, began last Tuesday and are said to be entering a critical phase.
They are expected to continue into tonight if necessary.
Members of the Irish Nurses' Organisation (INO) and the Psychiatric Nurses' Association (PNA) are seeking a 10.6 per cent pay rise and a 35-hour working week.
Going into the talks, Des Kavanagh of the PNA said the unions had five proposals on the pay to put forward. He said a number of them were not inconsistent with Government policy.
Liam Doran, general secretary of the INO, said yesterday that the unions had made a presentation on how a 35-hour week could be achieved and were awaiting a response from the employers this afternoon.
"The first session will be for the employers to give a definitive response to the 35-hour week, and that includes a date for the introduction of a 35-hour week," he said.
The second session today will focus on the nurses' pay claim which has not yet been discussed at these talks
Mr Doran has acknowledged that this remained "challenging".