Behind the scenes moves to try to solve the public health doctors' dispute got under way yesterday when the National Implementation Body invited both sides to exploratory talks.
The Irish Medical Organisation and the Health Service Employers' Agency made separate presentations to the NIB during lunchtime meetings at Government Buildings.
The meetings, chaired by Mr Dermot McCarthy, secretary general of the Department of the Taoiseach, were purely exploratory, the IMO's director of industrial relations, Mr Fintan Hourihan, said last night.
It is understood representatives of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions, IBEC and the Department of Finance were also present.
The NIB, which was set up under the partnership agreements, is trying to establish a basis for face to face discussions between the parties. "We attended and made a presentation following an invitation to do so late on Sunday night," Mr Hourihan said.
Asked if the meeting was a sign of progress, he said: "You would not be able to gauge from what happened one way or the other".
Mr Brendan Mulligan, head of industrial relations at the HSEA, said the meeting was "very, very exploratory" and he expected the NIB to make further contact with both sides in coming days.
Earlier in the dispute, a call by the NIB on both sides to return to talks at the Labour Relations Commission or Labour Court was rejected by the IMO.
The doctors' action is now in its fifth week.