Taoiseach Simon Harris has asked Aer Lingus and the Irish Air Line Pilots’ Association (Ialpa) to “dig deep” in attempting to come to a resolution in their heated industrial dispute.

Around 35,000 passengers’ flights have been cancelled so far due to an indefinite work-to-rule due to begin on Wednesday and an eight-hour strike announced for Saturday.

There has been a sharp exchange of words between the airline and union, with both sides accusing the other of not engaging.

But both sides have agreed to attend separate meetings at the Labour Court on Tuesday to provide briefings on the industrial stand-off.

Mr Harris said it was “absolutely vital” that both sides engage in talks to find a resolution.

“My challenge to the parties now is to bring that engagement forward, rather than putting people through a prolonged period of agony and chaos, and then engaging in the end anyway,” he said on Tuesday morning.

“This dispute will be settled the same way every dispute is settled: compromise, engagement, sitting around a table. That’s what needs to happen.

Mr Harris added: “I welcome the fact that today, both parties have agreed to attend the Labour Court, albeit separately, but I would ask people to dig deep here.”

He said there would be “very little sympathy” for anybody involved in cancelling family holidays and disrupting the tourism sector if they are not engaging “intensively”.

Tánaiste Micheál Martin said: “We do hope that the talks between Aer Lingus and Ialpa are substantive, and that they lead to a pathway to a resolution of the dispute and relieve the anxiety and stress that thousands and thousands of people are feeling at the moment in respect of proposed industrial action.

“I think there’s an urgent necessity now to resolve this, and to bring some peace of mind to people who’ve been planning all year to go on their holidays.”

Aer Lingus has already cancelled more than 200 flights and sought to re-accommodate 35,000 passengers amid the bitter dispute over pay.

The work-to-rule action will run from Wednesday to Sunday, with an eight-hour strike planned for Saturday.

Pilots are seeking a pay increase of 24 per cent, which they say equates to inflation since the last pay rise in 2019.

Aer Lingus has said it is willing to offer pay increases of 12.5 per cent or above if “improvements in productivity and flexibility” are discussed.