The general secretary of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions (Ictu) has said that he is less confident today that a new national pay deal can be agreed.
Arriving at Government Buildings for a sixth day of talks on a new agreement, David Begg said that a representative of the employer's group Ibec had been "very negative" about a range of issues outstanding when speaking on RTÉ Radio at lunchtime.
He said that Ibec director of industrial relations Brendan McGinty had presented the trade union movement as "a problem for competitiveness in the Irish economy".
"This seems to run fully in the face of what we are about here. If you are part of a social partnership process which is being designed to try to assist the country at a difficult time. It seems to be wholly in conflict with that to take the view that we are actually an anti-competitive force in the Irish economy," he said.
"I can't accept the reasoning behind that view."
Meanwhile, employers have urged trade unions to "park their shopping lists" of issues to allow a national wage agreement to be reached in the national interest.
Ibec director general Turlough O'Sullivan said that the current talks process had dragged on for long enough and that the public were fed up of it.
He urged the Government and unions to engage with employers to conclude an agreement on pay that would take the country over the relatively short period to the end of 2009. He said that the matter was eminently capable of being sorted out today.
He said that employers wanted to do a simple, relatively short agreement that would save jobs and get the country over the current period of economic difficulties.
He rejected the criticism made by Mr Begg as a "distraction".
The talks are continuing tonight.