Talks to secure a new national wage agreement have adjourned for the evening with no progress reported.
The talks are set to resume at 2.30pm tomorrow.
Employers' negotiators arrived at Government Buildings earlier today for what is expected to be a three-day intensive push to secure an agreement.
General Secretary of ICTU David Begg described the next 24 hours as crucial if there is to be any hope of securing a new agreement.
Mr Begg said there would have to be movement over the weekend if the one-week time frame to broker a deal set by Taoiseach Brian Cowen is to be met.
He said that all the key issues were still in play and that talking over the last four days had been about securing each other's position.
He said the Government could not put proposals on the table until it knew whether an agreement was possible.
Larry Broderick, the General Secretary of the Irish Bank Officials Association, said he was not confident that the deal could be reached. He said there had been no sign of movement from employers or the Government.
Employers have said they are not optimistic.
Prospects of deal to be assessed: Cowen
Unions have warned that any new agreement must protect vulnerable, low-paid workers who have been worst hit by inflation.
Mr Cowen said an assessment would have to be made later today on whether progress can be made on the latest round of pay talks.
Speaking in Daingean, Co Offaly this morning, Mr Cowen said it had been agreed that another week would be given to try and achieve a deal between both sides, but while the talks continued it would be necessary to carry out an assessment to see if any progress could be made in extending the process.
