Talks on a new Partnership agreement, which resumed at Government Buildings this afternoon, have been adjourned.
Earlier this evening, union negotiators reported back to the Executive Council of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions but it is understood no progress has been made on the substantive pay issues.
It is expected that talks chairman Dermot McCarthy will invite the parties to further talks tomorrow, though no time has been fixed for the resumption.
The General Secretary of the ICTU, David Begg, had described the mood as 'businesslike'.
On his way into the meeting this afternoon, IBEC Director Turlough O'Sullivan said he hoped something could be done to rescue the talks.
It was now too late for rhetoric, he said, and the talks were 'going to the wire'.
He said all sides needed to be sensible and practical.
David Begg, said the employers' argument about needing to remain competitive did not hold up.
The recent publication by the Irish Times of the top 1000 companies had shown business to be quite robust, he said.
The Taoiseach, Bertie Ahern, has expressed hope that those involved in the Partnership process would make progress at the talks.
Speaking at the unveiling of a statue of Thomas Davis in Dublin city, Mr Ahern said there had been no progress since the talks adjourned last Tuesday.
ICTU is seeking an increase of between 4.5% and 5%, while employers' group IBEC wants a figure between 3% and 3.5%.A number of other non-pay related issues also remain unresolved.
Mr Ahern said it would be a pity if the very good package of employment protection measures which had been agreed were not implemented.
He added that there was no deadline set but that everybody involved was becoming exhausted, with this afternoon's session being the seventh Sunday out of the last eight that talks have taken place.
