Talks on a new social partnership agreement have adjourned without agreement.
It is understood that employers, unions and Government officials were unable to bridge the gap on a number of contentious issues including pay, pensions and measures to avoid exploitation of workers.
The participants will reconvene at 2pm on Sunday to consider whether there is a basis for further negotiations with a view to reaching an agreement.
Earlier, the Taoiseach said there were considerable differences between the social partners on the issue of pay and also on a non-pay related issue.
Bertie Ahern said he hoped progress could be made but was not sure that it could. The sticking points centre on pay and pensions. Mr Ahern said the biggest issue is pay.
He said 90% of the issues around employment laws to ensure that workers will not be exploited have been agreed.
He said he had always held the view that no agreement is better than a bad agreement.
Meanwhile, the OECD has said that it is important the pay increases agreed in national pay talks are in line with productivity developments in the economy.
In its latest economic outlook, it warned that the current pattern, where real wages in Ireland have been rising by more than productivity, could damage our future economic performance and entails inflationary risks.
In line with the OECD's recent major report on Ireland, today's outlook also confirms the expectation that the Irish economy will grow by 5% both this year and next.
The report also reiterates the organisation's earlier recommendation that rolling back anti-competitive regulation in services should be a priority, as it would spur productivity growth and restrain inflation.
Talks focused on employment rights
It is understood that attention in the talks so far has focused on employment standards while the central issue of pay has not been addressed to any significant extent.
Areas proving particularly difficult include clamping down on employees falsely registered as self-employed to save employers tax and insurance.
The social partners have also failed to reach agreement on regulation of employment agencies and mechanisms to ensure contractors on public service contracts are compliant with employment law.
