Public sector pay talks involving unions, staff associations and the Government have resumed at the Workplace Relations Commission (WRC).
Unions have expressed concern and disappointment at the slow pace of the negotiations and say a push for progress will be needed at today's session if agreement is to be reached before the Christmas break.
The two sides have had nine separate engagements over the course of three weeks, but unions say a lot of work still needs to be done.
The current public sector pay deal, Building Momentum, will expire at the end of the year.
In an update to union members on Friday, General Secretary of the Fórsa trade union Kevin Callinan said progress has been undeniably slow, something which he described as disappointing.
"We are hoping to inject a sense of urgency into the next round of talks, and to make real progress on finalising a deal," Mr Callinan said.
The Department of Public Expenditure and Reform said that the parties at the pay talks have had constructive engagement on a number of issues over the course of the last three weeks.
"Government have been clear that the aim is to reach a mutually acceptable outcome - one that strikes the right balance between providing for both continued investment in our public services and an approach to public service pay that is fair, reasonable and affordable for public servants and taxpayers generally," a department spokesperson said.
Earlier this month, as part of the pay talks, the Government agreed to repeal emergency industrial relations legislation introduced during the financial crisis.
Unions had asked for the removal of the legislation claiming it had made it too difficult for individual sectors and grades to have issues addressed outside of the scope of existing pay deals.
If agreement is reached at the WRC, it will mean a pay increase for 385,000 public servants including nurses, doctors, gardaí and teachers.
