Speaking on behalf of employers, Eddie Keenan of the Construction Industry Federation said that he wanted to reassure electricians that their pay would not be interfered with.
However TEEU outgoing general secretary Owen Wills stressed that there are still some major obstacles to be overcome and said he is not hopeful of a resolution at this point.
Mr Will said the issue was not the money, but the impact of the application of the agreement and other external factors - including the legal challenge being undertaken by the breakaway employers' group the NECI.
Both parties began with bilateral talks at 11am this morning and were ongoing late last night.
TEEU pickets remain in place
Pickets by TEEU members were again put in place this morning on building sites around the country, including the Corrib construction site in Co Mayo.
About half of the workforce there reported for work this morning and passed the pickets. The remaining workers are supporting the dispute.
LRC Chief Executive Kieran Mulvey has described as 'problematic' the fact that there are legal proceedings 'still in play' that relate to the dispute.
'We have to be careful in the context of any resolution to this dispute that we all don't end up back in the courts again', he said.
Mr Mulvey said he has received legal correspondence from the NECI expressing its objection to these talks.
Mr Mulvey said that the union has made it clear that until that there is a resolution to the dispute or a structure for resolution the pickets will remain in place.
Electricians belonging to the Technical Engineering and Electrical Union are seeking an 11% pay increase, which has been due for a number of years.
Electrical contractors are looking for a 10% pay cut.
Support for electricians 'extraordinary'
The General Secretary designate of the TEEU has described the level of support for striking workers as 'extraordinary'.
Addressing the ICTU conference in Tralee, Eamon Devoy said that other workers realised that the current dispute was not just an attack on electricians, but on all workers in Ireland.
He said that numerous factory workers had come out in support where there were electrical contractors on their site.
He said the TEEU had not asked them to stay out, and had not put pickets on to prevent those workers from working.
Delegates applauded Mr Devoy when he referred to a 'captain of industry' who he claimed was responsible for the dispute, and who he said knew more about rearing cows and slaughtering cows that he knew about workers' rights.
