Today marks “crunch time” in talks on the question of whether a new national pay agreement can be reached, Taoiseach Brian Cowen said.
Mr Cowen is expected to return from a Fianna Fáil party conference in Galway this afternoon to attend the reconvened session of the talks between the social partners at Government Buildings.
Speaking on RTÉ's Morning Ireland, Mr Cowen said the sides had looked at some of the non-pay issues and that "very serious engagement" had taken place.
“Today is the crunch time really because we are getting down to the pay issues and the numbers.”
Noting the current turbulence in the international and domestic economy, Mr Cowen said he hoped people would see “the wider picture” on what social partnership has done for the country and on how it had provided stability.
It remained to be seen if it was possible to conclude an agreement, he said.
Mr Cowen said the country was in “extremely volatile times” and that there had been a very serious deterioration in public finances.
The Government had decided to bring forward the Budget to October as an indication of the “seriousness of our intent” to deal with those issues, he said.
Commenting on today’s announcement by global computer manufacturer Hewlett Packard that it is to shed 24,600 jobs worldwide, Mr Cowen said he did not yet know if there were any implications for the 4,000 HP jobs here.
“I hope not,” he said.
The national pay talks continued late last night, with unions and employers due to consider Government proposals on pensions and upskilling of workers.
Informed sources said the process was moving increasingly to deal with the more sensitive issues involved in any new deal - albeit at a slow pace.
The talks, which have been running in the current phase for more than a week, are expected to enter their final phase today.
Union leaders said some progress had been made in recent days, but Ibec director general Turlough O'Sullivan said it was "far from certain" a deal would be struck.