Unions and Department of Finance officials begin talks this afternoon on the implementation of the benchmarking report.
The report - published last Monday week - recommends average pay rises of 8.9 per cent for public sector workers, including, nurses, teachers, gardaí and civil servants.
The timeframe for the implementation of the recommendations is likely to be main sticking point between the two sides in the negotiations.
Today's meeting will also discuss the payment of 1/4 of the pay rises, back dated to December 2001.