Transport Minister Noel Dempsey has said the Government is very concerned about the serious consequences of tomorrow's threatened industrial action by air traffic controllers for air passengers and the economy.
Mr Dempsey urged both sides to make every effort to resolve the dispute with the help of the State's industrial relations machinery.
The Irish Aviation Authority is calling on air traffic controllers at Dublin, Cork and Shannon airports to call off industrial action planned for tomorrow afternoon.
The three airports will effectively shut down between 2pm and 6pm as controllers attend mandatory union meetings. This will also affect flights through Irish airspace.
Aer Lingus is cancelling 64 flights, with Ryanair cancelling a further 48.
The meetings have been called after 15 air traffic controllers were suspended for failing to co-operate with new technology.
Speaking on RTÉ's News At One IAA's Director of Human Resources Liam Kavanagh said the changes to technology are an essential upgrade for the aviation industry and called on the union to suspend action.
Since Christmas, IMPACT has been instructing controllers not to cooperate with the three new projects.
It has also been in dispute with the IAA over pay and pension issues.
However, the situation escalated when the IAA suspended without pay ten controllers in Dublin and five in Shannon, with further suspensions expected.
The Dublin Airport Authority has said that intending passengers should contact individual airlines regarding tomorrow's planned work stoppage by air traffic controllers.
The reforms have been discussed at the Labour Relations Commission and are being referred to the Labour Court.
IMPACT official Michael Landers said staff should not be suspended while negotiations were ongoing. He said workers are not opposed to new work practices, but rather the way in which they have been introduced.
The IAA said the real issue was the union seeking a 6% pay hike under Towards 2016, and the €234m pension deficit.
The company currently pays 30.5% of salary to the pension for staff, while staff contributes nothing.
The union is resisting IAA attempts to introduce contributions on a par with the public sector pension levy.
