The Minister for Public Enterprise, Ms O'Rourke, said last night she was cautiously optimistic that the closure of Ferbane power station and the loss of more than 300 jobs could be averted.
She welcomed yesterday's announcement by the ESB group of unions that it had invited MSF and the company to return to the Joint Industrial Council to resolve differences over new work practices.
MSF has accepted the invitation to talks, but the ESB has yet to do so. It is understood that the company requires clarification on the wording of the proposals from the group of unions before it decides whether to attend the JIC.
However, if the company does obtain satisfactory clarifications and agrees to re-enter the JIC process, this would mean that Friday's board decision about the future of the plant would have to be deferred until after the JIC process ends.
The settlement procedures are understood to provide for binding arbitration in the dispute about the amalgamation of three instrumentation technicians and six electricians at Ferbane into a new Electrical and Instrumentation (E&I) grade. The electricians are members of the TEEU and have agreed to the changes, but the instrumentation technicians, who are members of MSF, have yet to do so.