Negotiations over the weekend will be crucial in determing if there is to be a new national pay deal, the general secretary of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions (Ictu) David Begg has said.
Arriving for the fifth day of negotiations today, he said that “all the key issues” were still in play.
Mr Begg said the talks over recent days had been about the parties exploring each other’s positions.
He also said that the Government could not put proposals on the table without knowing that a deal was possible.
The general secretary of the finance union IBOA, Larry Broderick, said that he was “not confident” that a deal would be reached.
Mr Broderick said that there had been no sign so far of change on the part of Government or employers.
He said that the parties were now in the last 48 hours of the process and he hoped they would both play their roles in the national interest.
If not, the IBOA would be serving pay claims on the banks from Monday.
Earlier in the week, the Taoiseach, Brian Cowen, said he hoped a deal could be reached by today.
Union leaders have warned that a small reduction in inflation last month - from 4.4 to 4.3 per cent - revealed yesterday will not affect their demand for pay increases of about 5 per cent, currently being sought for the private sector.
However, the director general of the employers’ group Ibec, Turlough O’Sullivan, said the impact of the new inflation figures had to be helpful for the national pay talks.
Mr Cowen has told the social partners he would only sanction a national pay agreement that tied in with the Government's strategy to get the public finances under control.
He told union and employers' leaders during a meeting at Government Buildings last weekend that he would like to have "an appropriate deal for the circumstances" but not one at any cost.
Due to the poor economic climate, the Government has decided to bring the Budget for 2009 forward to October 14th.
At the talks in July, the unions rejected proposals for a 5 per cent increase phased over 21 months, with a six-month pay pause for most workers. However, this would have run for 11 and 12 months for those in the public service and in construction.
The pay talks were suspended without agreement last month after failing to meet the August 1st deadline.