Talks between Dublin Bus unions and management are continuing at the Workplace Relations Commission in an attempt to resolve the pay dispute at the company.
Unions deferred strike action planned for yesterday and today to allow for the discussions to take place.
If a settlement is not reached, the next stoppage is planned for this coming Saturday - the day of the All-Ireland Football Final replay.
On his way into the talks, which got under way 10.30am, Dermot O'Leary of the National Bus and Railworkers' Union described the discussions as "difficult" and said that there is a large gap between the sides.
He pointed out that there are seven different grades of employees represented including drivers, inspectors, clerical and maintenance staff.
NBRU's Dermot O'Leary on Dublin Bus talks – 'It's difficult, it's tedious ... it was never going to be easy' https://t.co/9TIo18CRQo pic.twitter.com/brceIzMgIA
— RTÉ News (@rtenews) September 28, 2016
The talks, which began yesterday, come after management dropped their pre-condition that increased productivity had to be part of any pay rise in excess of the 8.25% recommended by the Labour Court.
Unions are looking for 15% and want some improvement on the Labour Court recommendation before discussing productivity.
There are five unions involved in the talks: the NBRU, SIPTU, the TSSA, the TEEU and UNITE.
