The Dublin Bus strikes scheduled for tomorrow and Wednesday have been deferred to allow for four days of intensive negotiations aimed at resolving the dispute over pay.

However, if the talks fail to reach a deal during that period, the stoppage scheduled for Saturday - the day of the All-Ireland final replay - will go ahead.

Exploratory talks were held today at the Workplace Relations Commission aimed at resolving the pay dispute, which has paralysed the capital's bus services for six days in recent weeks.

Bus services in the city were supposed to wind down from 9pm this evening but now normal services will remain.

In a statement, Dublin Bus said management will continue to engage with all parties at the WRC in the coming days "in an effort to find a resolution to this current dispute".

It said all Dublin Bus services will operate as normal tonight, tomorrow and Wednesday.

SIPTU said that it and other union representatives "are hopeful that progress can be made in discussions which can facilitate the cancellation of further planned stoppages at Dublin Bus."

Ten more days of strike action are scheduled beyond this week.

Owen Reidy of SIPTU said there is a "considerable way to go" in the WRC talks, but said he hopes the company is willing to negotiate on an improvement on the 8.25% pay increase.

Speaking on RTÉ's Six One News, he said unions decided to defer the two days of action given the WRC, after discussions with both sides, felt there was "scope to make progress" in the dispute.

He said the issue of productivity can only be discussed after the pay claim is addressed.

"It's an issue for down the road. We believe the claim stands on its own merit and we need to go somewhere of what the Labour Court recommended and then, and only then, can we really look at productivity if that is something both sides want to look at grade by grade."

Mr Reidy said he hopes the Government will allow the company to negotiate and give them the "wherewithal" to negotiate.

Announcing the suspension of industrial action, National Bus and Rail Workers' Union General Secretary Dermot O'Leary said: "In agreeing to suspend our members' industrial action we are placing our trust in the WRC and its assessment, following its separate exploratory discussions with Dublin Bus, that significant progress can be achieved over the next number of days in order to find a resolution to this dispute.

"The onus is now very much on Dublin Bus to come to the negotiating table and step up to the plate to go significantly beyond what has already been rejected by all of the Staff and work with the Trade Unions towards achieving a satisfactory resolution of this dispute, falling short is simply not an option for commuters and staff alike."

Earlier arriving at the WRC, Mr O'Leary reiterated that if the dispute is to be resolved, the company would have to offer more than the 8.25% increase over three years recommended by the Labour Court but which had been rejected by staff.

Unions had previously criticised management for relying on a Labour Court recommendation as the basis for talks, when the recommendation had been overwhelmingly rejected by staff.

Minister for Transport Shane Ross welcomed the decision to defer the strike action.

In a statement, he said he is "cognisant of the relief this will bring to the travelling public, businesses and all those who have been adversely affected by the recent strikes".

Mr Ross added that he "appreciates the role played by the WRC in facilitating these negotiations" and said he hopes that "all sides are given the appropriate space to arrive at a solution that is fair and achievable".