Talks will take place later aimed at averting a major nurses strike at the country's main hospitals.
The INMO union has said their members will hold rolling two hour work stoppages in protest at overcrowding.
If the action goes ahead seven hospitals will be affected including Beaumont in Dublin, next Thursday, January 14.
The HSE and the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation will both attend the discussions at the Workplace Relations Commission today.
The seven hospitals taking part in the strikes are Beaumont, Cavan, Mercy Hospital Cork, Galway, Tallaght, Tullamore and Waterford.