Employers' group IBEC has said that trade union concerns about the Irish Ferries row can be addressed within social partnership.
In a statement, the group said it regretted that the situation had escalated and understood the disquiet that had been expressed 'given that yesterday's events are not normal in Irish industrial relations'.
Irish Ferries has begun informal contacts with crew representatives over a dispute with has halted sailings on the Irish Sea. But two ships are expected to remain stranded in Welsh ports tonight as Irish crew members demand the removal of security personnel and foreign agency workers.
Four ship's officers have barricaded themselves into a control room on board the Isle of Inishmore in Pembroke while their colleagues on the Ulysess in Hollyhead are also are refusing to sail.
Irish Ferries has cancelled all bookings and services on the Irish Sea and does not expect to be back in operation before next Monday.
IBEC said it was positive about entering talks on a successor to Sustaining Progress. The employers' body also said lessons from the Irish Ferries dispute could be translated into measures to improve industrial relations.
IBEC said the circumstances in Irish Ferries were unique to the shipping industry and had no relevance to companies operating in and employing people in this jurisdiction. 'Employers here are governed by a substantial body of protective legislation and the second highest national minimum wage in the EU. Extension of the Irish Ferries model into the broader economy, ignoring these standards and involving direct replacement of Irish workers by cheaper foreign labour is therefore not something that is desirable or practicable,' it said.
Meanwhile, the Taoiseach has launched a strong attack on Irish Ferries management, accusing them of trying to turn back the clock.
Speaking in Budapest after a meeting with the Hungarian Prime Minister, the Taoiseach described Irish Ferries' tactics as being anathema to everything he had worked for in the industrial relations world for over 20 years.
He defended his comments earlier in the week when he had said there was nothing more the Government could do in the dispute. Some had claimed the remarks had given Irish Ferries the green light to take the action they did.
The Taoiseach insisted that when he had made those remarks he had known from union sources that the company was about to send in security men and a Latvian workforce.
Labour leader Pat Rabbitte has written to the Taoiseach urging him to support a Labour Party bill aimed at restricting the circumstances in which Irish registered vessels can be re-registered in another country.
