The proposals for the facility in Shannonbridge, Co. Offaly would have seen it fuelled with biomass as well as peat.

The announcement that 148 workers would be laid off was made on July 11 and since then, union representatives and Bord Na Móna have been in talks over the staff losses.

It's over the temporary closure of a power-plant at Lanesboro, Co Longford, which Bord na Móna supplies.

Bord na Móna has reversed its decision to lay off 70 permanent staff in the midlands, according to Siptu.

Unions will meet Bord na Móna today to discuss major job losses in the Midlands.

An impasse between the ESB and the Environmental Protection Agency that has led to the suspension of operations at a power plant in Longford could lead to industrial action by Bord na Móna employees, unions are warning.

Irish Rail staff have hit back at claims that increments paid mean they cannot claim to have had no pay increase for the last decade.

The two largest driver unions at Irish Rail have said it is within the gift of Transport Minister Shane Ross to intervene and stave off strike action which could cripple services by the October bank holiday weekend.

Irish Rail says its hopes all sides will re-engage in further talks to avoid potential strike action at the company.

Many of the Bus Éireann drivers starting their first full working day in three weeks today can still expect to earn a salary of up to €50,000 if they and their colleagues vote to accept a Labour Court recommendation on their future terms and conditions.

Unions claim there are forces at play within Government that would prefer to see the demise of Bus Éireann, writes Stephen Rogers.

The public faces another day of travel disruption as the Bus Éireann dispute rumbles on.

Talks between management and unions at Bus Éireann have ended for the night.

The public will have no Bus Éireann services for a 13th successive day in spite of worker unions entering talks this morning to end the dispute at the Workplace Relations Commission.

Latest: Trade union Unite, which represents craft workers in Bus Éireann, will also attend the talks tomorrow, but their pickets will remain in place.

Our team of reporters talk to people from Cork, Kerry, Waterford and Limerick on how the Bus Éireann strike is having an effect across their cities.

Schoolchildren look set to be the next victims of the dispute at Bus Éireann with Siptu announcing it is to ballot school bus drivers for strike action.

Commuters face travel chaos for a second day as the all-out strike at Bus Éireann continues.

Passengers have been left without a bus service for the foreseeable future as unions begin an all-out strike from today.

Tens of thousands of commuters have been left stranded today as Bus Éireann workers stage an all-out indefinite strike.

Latest: Siptu representatives have criticised an attempt by the management of Bus Éireann to force through an inequitable wage cuts at the company which overwhelmingly focus on the earnings of bus drivers and other staff while ignoring senior management.

Talks that have led to the deferral of an all-out Bus Éireann strike have given passengers some relief but there is no certainty the dispute can be quickly resolved.

Update - 5.35pm: The Minister for Transport, Shane Ross, has welcomed the latest move.

The National Transport Authority has been accused of having an agenda “which is clearly supportive of the privatisation of transport services”.

Hundreds of thousands of commuters are set to be left without a bus service from next week as workers stage an all-out strike.

The board of the company announced their cost cutting plans within the past hour and confirmed that immediate cost savings would be implemented from Monday.

Siptu has told its members in Bus Éireann today to prepare for protracted strike action.

Commuters face travel chaos and an all-out bus strike after talks between Bus Éireann and unions collapsed.

A resolution to the Bus Éireann dispute may never be found, unions have warned, after the company suggested a number of “out-of-bounds and repulsive” cost cutting measures.

The National Bus and Rail Union has said that it will attend talks over cutbacks at Bus Éireann if the company withdraws previous correspondence setting out the cuts.

Bus Éireann could go bankrupt before the year end if emergency measures are not introduced, it’s acting chief executive warned.

Bus Éireann and its unions are no closer to resolving how to find essential cost savings at the company after the Labour Court refused to intervene in the dispute.

A nationwide bus strike by Bus Éireann staff is looking increasingly likely after unions said they would not attend talks on cutbacks which equate to a pay cuts of up to 30%.

Update 9.37pm: SIPTU members have rejected a plan presented by the management of Bus Éireann to workers this evening, according to sector organiser Willie Noone.

Bus Eireann's €13m overtime bill is threatening to spark a huge industrial relations row.

Trade unions said the Department of Transport could not walk away from the crisis at Bus Éireann, after a consultant’s report suggested as many as 500 jobs were under threat due to its poor financial position.

Siptu has said an “implied threat of cutbacks” by Luas operators, if workers continue with a strike action, will not help bring the dispute to a conclusion.

A potential deal worth up to nearly 19% for some Luas drivers has meant thousands of people heading to the St Patrick’s Day celebrations in Dublin today will be able to take a tram to get there.

A national bus strike has taken a step closer with the two largest driver unions in Bus Éireann and Dublin Bus to ballot their members for action over the potential privatisation of up to 10% of bus routes.

Despite a fellow driver union withdrawing from talks on cost savings at Iarnród Éireann over the weekend, Siptu has decided to ballot its members on the proposals which emerged from last week’s engagement.

Dublin Bus has said it is deeply disappointed after the two main unions rejected the latest Labour Court deal.

Drivers at Dublin Bus have rejected Labour Court proposals for a company cost savings plan, raising the prospect of a repeat of the strike action which hit thousands of commuters at the start of this month.

The threat of industrial action hangs over Dublin Bus after drivers rejected a new deal aimed at cutting company costs.