The Taoiseach is considering appointing a mediator to the Debenhams dispute.
The company's Irish operation collapsed last April with the loss of around 1,000 jobs.
On Tuesday, former workers marked 222 days of protesting outside Debenhams stores over their redundancy packages by standing outside the Dáil and calling on Micheál Martin to intervene.
A group of staff who have been protesting since the closure met with the Taoiseach this morning.
He told them his officials are in the process of identifying a suitable individual or body who may be able to assist the parties in reaching a mutually acceptable solution.
In a statement, those who met with Mr Martin today said they used the opportunity "to once again urge An Taoiseach to use his office to crease the circumstances which would bring an end to the current dispute".
They added: "He stated, notwithstanding current statutory constraints, he and his team were continuing to explore how this might be done and they were in the process of identifying a suitable individual or body who might be able to assist the parties in arriving at a mutually acceptable resolution.
"Importantly he committed to meet again with the union delegation early next week in order to update us further."
Speaking to Shane Beatty on Breakfast Briefing this week, Jane Crowe, one of the people behind the protest, called on shoppers to boycott Debenhams Online over the Christmas period.
She said: "We’re asking everybody to boycott Debenhams.ie or Debenhams.com for the Christmas period.
"People think that the money from that is actually going to the Irish business, it’s not, the UK have claimed ownership.
"All the money [goes] to the UK so we’re asking everyone to boycott Debenhams.ie this year."
