Talks on a new national pay deal resumed this afternoon but unions and business leaders said a deal was unlikely until tomorrow.
The negotiations entered a critical phase last night with unions and employers considering compromise proposals on pay and non-pay issues drawn up by Government officials.
As he entered the talks today, Ictu general secretary David Begg said some progress had been made but he expected the talks to go into tomorrow. "We still have a lot to do. I think it's just a bit early to expect it today. I'd be inclined to think myself it will run on to tomorrow at least."
Siptu president Jack O'Connor said reported changes in work practices at Aer Lingus had "enormous implications for the process. And as I said yesterday it has the potential to torpedo this whole process if the scale of what is being reported in the media turns out to be true".
He has written to Aer Lingus seeing clarification about the reports that the company was planning widespread outsourcing of its ground operations service and the recruitment of cabin crew in the US.
However, Turlough O'Sullivan director general of employers’ group Ibec said he did not believe that the Aer Lingus issue should have an impact on the talks.
"The talks are about getting a framework for Ireland, for the future, and the framework has worked very well in the past to deal with all sorts of problems, whether they happen in company a, b or c so what happens in one company really is irrelevant. It shouldn't have any impact on the talks at all."
He said documents were still being developed and reviewed. "We made a bit of progress over the weekend. Yeah, we did and that was helpful and it was encouraging after all these months of not very much progress so one would be a little more optimistic but it's still far from certain that we'll do it."
Taoiseach Brian Cowen, who arrived back at Government Buildings last night to be on hand if needed in the talks, said yesterday it remained to be seen whether an agreement could be reached.
Mr Cowen said there were serious issues still to be finalised and addressed to everyone's satisfaction. The problem, he said, was the diverse and different situations that applied in different industries and that it was perhaps hard to find an overall agreement that everyone could live with.
However, the parties were striving to achieve a deal, he said.