A threat of further industrial action at Bank of Ireland's information technology division has been lifted for the time being following the appointment of Mr Kieran Mulvey as mediator.
Mr Mulvey received formal submissions from the bank and the union involved, the Irish Bank Officials' Association, on Saturday, and will be in contact with both sides again this week. He is to issue findings by August 15th and the union will ballot on these within a week of that date.
In the meantime, it has agreed not to proceed with further industrial action over the bank's plan to transfer its IT support division to Hewlett Packard, in a €600 million outsourcing deal.
The bank has agreed not to sign the deal until the process instigated at the weekend with the appointment of Mr Mulvey is completed.
More than 200 IBOA members employed by ITSIS, the bank's information technology division based in Cabinteely, Co Dublin, staged a one-day strike on Friday.
About 500 staff are employed at the centre, which provides support for the bank's key services such as ATM machines and Internet banking.
They are seeking compensation for the move to Hewlett Packard as well as improved commitments on job security.
Friday's action, the Republic's first bank strike in 12 years, caused minimal disruption to services, but further, longer stoppages are planned if the row is not resolved. These would have the potential to cause serious disruption. The bank had rejected the union's suggestion that industrial relations specialist, Mr Phil Flynn, be invited to mediate in the dispute.
It acknowledged he was a respected mediator but said his ties with Bank of Scotland (Ireland), of which he is chairman, made him unacceptable as an arbitrator.
However, Mr Mulvey, who is chief executive of the Labour Relations Commission, proved acceptable to both sides and agreed on Friday night to assist in resolving the dispute.