The Irish Farmers' Association has sought a meeting of the steering committee which oversees the national partnership agreement in a bid to resolve the dispute between the Department of Agriculture and the clerical union, CPSU, writes Sean MacConnell, Agriculture Correspondent.
The dispute, over what the union says is a lack of promotional opportunities in regional offices, has led to 262 staff at offices in Mayo, Galway, Kerry, Limerick and Cork being taken off the payroll. Staff are now picketing the buildings.
Formal talks to bring an end to the eight-week dispute began on Monday and continued informally yesterday without any progress being reported by either side.
A further formal session will resume tomorrow.
Yesterday, the IFA president, Mr John Dillon, claimed the dispute between the department and the Civil, Public and Services Union was causing losses and financial hardship for hundreds of farmers who cannot get documentation to sell cattle where disease problems have been identified.
Mr Dillon said that if social partnership was to mean anything there could be no place for such disruptive action which was severely damaging one party to the agreement.
He said it was utterly unreasonable that the Department of Agriculture had not provided a contingency plan that would allow farmers to move stock and get their movement cards from local Department of Agriculture offices.
The union, which sought a High Court judicial review on Monday of the legality of taking the staff off the payroll, will meet later today to plan strategy for a full negotiating session with the department tomorrow.
It has threatened to call out all its staff for a one-day protest at the Department of Agriculture head office in Dublin within the next few weeks unless there are "meaningful discussions" with the department.