Trade union Impact has agreed to 'high-level' negotiations with the Health Service Executive in the ongoing dispute in the health service.
The agreement came after union representatives met senior HSE management earlier today in a bid to resolve the three-week-old industrial dispute, which has led to around 28,000 healthcare staff operating a work-to-rule.
However, the union said industrial action will continue until "tangible improvements emerge".
Since May, Impact members have refused to cover posts left vacant by the HSE's recruitment freeze.
Health workers have also blocked non-emergency overtime and out-of-hours work, and stopped co-operation with HSE advisors and the HSE's transformation programme. However, full emergency cover is being provided.
The HSE said today it wants to convene a high level group to deal with the issues raised by the dispute, which will establish a timetable to deal with the union's concerns.
Impact national secretary Kevin Callinan welcomed the development. However, he said that the union's campaign against staff and service cuts would continue.
"It would be a welcome development if the HSE is prepared to deal seriously with the issues and improve consultation with staff who are trying to deliver services in hospitals and communities," he said. "We will enter discussions in good faith, but we need to see concrete changes before suspending the industrial action that has bought the HSE to the negotiation table."
The union is looking for new HSE staffing policies and practices to guarantee existing service provision and improvements in areas such as primary care, elder care, disability, and mental health services.
It is also asking HSE management put an end to the practice of using agency workers in place of permananent staff, and to honour more than 40 existing agreements on working conditions, which it says are being breached.