Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport Paschal Donohoe has warned that there will be no winners if Friday's threatened rail strike goes ahead.
He said the Workplace Relations Commission is the appropriate forum for discussions to resolve the rail dispute.
This afternoon the National Bus and Rail Union called on the minister and his officials to intervene and urge Iarnród Éireann management to negotiate on issues including past productivity.
However a spokesperson for Mr Donohoe said the WRC was the appropriate forum for discussions to resolve the rail dispute.
She said the commission has the ability, expertise and track record to deal with such matters successfully.
She said the minister recognised the seriousness of the matter adding that if strikes go ahead there will be no winners.
He noted that commuters across the country will lose out and the financial situation of Iarnród Éireann will worsen.
Arriving for last ditch talks at the WRC, NBRU General Secretary Dermot O'Leary said he was very pessimistic about the prospect of a resolution in light of what he described as the "obstructive" actions of the company.
He claimed the management team was not actually negotiating, particularly on the key issue of past productivity, and that there had been no progress.
He urged Mr Donohoe and his officials, to whom Iarnród Éireann management report, to issue an instruction to the company team to negotiate - and warned that if they did not, the trains will not run on Friday morning.
Iarnród Éireann Director of Human Resources Ciaran Masterson categorically rejected union claims that they were not negotiating, saying he was positive about the talks.
He said there was a genuine opportunity to achieve savings, and that the unions had an opportunity to deliver not just for the company, but also for their members and most importantly, to ensure that the travelling public is not disrupted this Friday.
He acknowledged that rosters were a key issue, as the company is trying to maximise efficiency and the time each driver is available for driving time.
SIPTU Assistant Organiser Paul Cullen echoed the NBRU criticisms, describing the talks as completely frustrating.
He said he hoped management would be coming in with their best foot forward, but that he was not hugely optimistic at this stage.
He said the technical issues around savings from revised rosters were very difficult.
