Talks at the Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) on access to pensions for school secretaries and caretakers have concluded and will resume at a future date.
The dispute saw more than 2,600 school staff, who are members of the Fórsa trade union, engage in strike action for more than a week impacting around 2,000 schools.
Fórsa withdrew the strike action on Friday night after an agreement was reached to engage in a process to resolve the dispute.
The union said that the key element of the proposals is a Government commitment to negotiate pension entitlements for school secretaries and caretakers that are comparable with teachers and Special Needs Assistants (SNAs).
Negotiations were held at the WRC for around two hours this afternoon.
A spokesperson for the Department of Education and Youth said the parties remain in process under the auspices of the WRC and continue to engage on the issues.
"All discussions remain confidential until such time as talks conclude," the spokesperson said.
Leaving the talks, Fórsa's Head of Education Andy Pike said that on the advice of the WRC, he would not be commenting on how the discussions went.
"What we can say is the issues are being explored and discussed, and we will be returning on another date in the near future to continue to try and make progress," Mr Pike said.
"I'm not really at liberty to say anything else, other than we discussed the problems, discussed the issues, and we'll be back again another day to make more progress."
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Arriving for the talks earlier, Mr Pike said they were optimistic that the Government will honour the commitments it has given.
He was asked by reporters this evening if that is still his view.
"We're still confident that the WRC can assist the parties to reach a resolution, our view hasn't changed," he said.
Aside from pensions, the agreement also provides for discussions on other issues including access to bereavement leave and sick leave, as well as the conclusion of a pay deal for caretakers.
If there are any outstanding issues following the WRC talks, the parties have agreed to have the matters referred to the Labour Court.
On Friday, Minister for Education and Youth Helen McEntee described the developments as a breakthrough and said she very much welcomed Fórsa's agreement to withdraw strike action and enter discussions in the WRC.
"Both sides must come together with an open mind and good faith without preconditions or pre-conceived ideas of a final outcome," Ms McEntee said.
