Eircom and the staff of its subsidiary, Eircell, remain in dispute over the terms of their transfer to Vodafone.

The mobile company's 2,200 staff stand to receive share allocations worth about £55 million under the terms of the Eircom employee share option plan.

But those rights will be waived if they move to Vodafone when its #4.5 billion takeover goes ahead in March.

It is understood Eircom managers want the terms of the share plan changed to allow Eircell staff to remain members when they join Vodafone.

This has been ruled out by the Communication Workers Union which has sought compensation for the stake instead. Eircom's managers are thought to argue that any such compensation fund would dilute Eircom's value for the benefit of a minority of shareholders.

A meeting yesterday failed to break the deadlock. A Vodafone spokesman declined to comment.