Unions and employers are to meet today to finalise a structure for detailed talks on a new national partnership deal.
Negotiations on the package are now expected to continue through the weekend with a view to having a framework in place before Christmas.
Both sides attended a meeting with Government officials yesterday at which it was agreed that separate working groups should be set up to examine different elements of a possible deal.
A further meeting takes place this afternoon at which, it is expected, a formal structure for the negotiations will be established.
The Irish Congress of Trade Unions yesterday decided to remain in the talks after receiving assurances from employers that they were committed to doing a deal if possible.
Mr David Begg, the ICTU general secretary, said employers were committed to keeping pay rises in line with those of competitors in other countries.
However, they had also recognised that the unions had the parallel objective of protecting members' living standards.
Achieving both those ends, he said, would be like "getting a square peg into a round hole", but unions were satisfied that employers were serious about trying.
However, the gap between the two sides remains as wide as it was when the partnership talks were formally opened in October.
The employers' body, IBEC, says restoring competitiveness will require a pay pause of six months followed by increases in low single figures.
Unions are demanding an increase at least in line with inflation, expected to be at least 5 per cent next year.
If the two sides agree on one one thing, it is that the Government must take action to bring inflation under control.
IBEC has proposed the establishment of a tripartite group, comprising employer, union and Government representatives, to examine how this might be achieved.
This suggestion is likely to be accepted by the union side.
While both sides want inflation tackled, however, there is strong disagreement about the extent to which pay increases have been part of the problem.
Separate working groups are also likely to be established to look at issues of concern to the two sides.
For the unions, these include statutory redundancy payment levels and union recognition.
The major issue of concern to employers is "compliance", or how unions can be made adhere to the terms of any new agreement.
It wants to rule out the prospect of "top-up" claims being made in addition to the terms of any general pay deal.
Both sides claim to be extremely pessimistic about the prospects for an agreement, and a return to free-for-all pay bargaining for the first time since the late 1980s looks likely.
Nevertheless, the talks are set to reach a new level of intensity over the coming days, and the possibility of a deal being reached should be much clearer by early next week.
