Talks aimed at resolving a pay dispute at the National Ambulance Service have begun at the Labour Court.
Representatives of trade unions, as well as Health Service Executive management, were invited to take part in the exploratory discussions.
A 24-hour strike by SIPTU and Unite members in the National Ambulance Service took place on Tuesday.
The HSE said the action had a "significant impact", resulting in longer than usual response times.
Pickets were placed at ambulance bases around the country, but striking workers said they did respond to life-threatening emergencies.
A work-to-rule, that began on Monday, is continuing and unions have warned that, in addition to this week's action, there will be a 48-hour stoppage on 19 May, a 72-hour stoppage on 26 May, and further strike action planned for next month.
The dispute involves emergency medical technicians, paramedics, advanced paramedics, specialist paramedics and paramedic supervisors.
Unions have accused the HSE of failing to implement the recommendations of an independent report on updating staff salary scales to reflect changes in responsibilities and workload.
The HSE said that it regrets the decision to proceed with industrial action, adding that previous proposals to resolve the dispute, that would have delivered pay increases, were rejected.
Unions say, however, they came with conditions, including changes to allowances, that were unacceptable to members.
'We believe there's an easy solution' - SIPTU
Speaking on his way into the talks, SIPTU's Ambulance Sector Organiser, John McCamley, said: "We're hopeful that the parties will arrive today without any preconditions.
"We all want to resolve this. We believe there's an easy solution to resolve it.
"It's a long-running dispute about the non-implementation of an independent report that's been sitting there for six years.
"So we think there's a simple solution. We're just hopeful that we can make some progress today."
Mr McCamley said that his members did not want to be on strike.
"One of the main cruxes of this issue is that every time we've met with the HSE, they've insisted on discussing further modernisation, further changes.
"Our members are of the view that, over the last 15 or 20 years, they've delivered on modernisation and changes, and that has to be respected.
"So we're just looking for a sign that the HSE are serious, that they want to engage, and they want to resolve this."
