The Labour Relations Commission is due to convene talks tomorrow aimed at resolving the issues which sparked off a lightning bus strike in Galway this week.
Services are expected to resume today at Galway bus station following the two-day stoppage, which was suspended last night.
The development came after the Minister for Transport, Mr Cullen, had appealed for a "speedy resolution" of the difficulties.
Up to 5,000 commuters using city, rural and inter-city services were affected by the unofficial dispute, which began when about 100 members of the National Bus and Rail Union (NBRU) stopped work early on Tuesday.
Only a small number of rural bus routes ran as scheduled, served by members of SIPTU, but most prospective bus passengers had to make alternative arrangements as services on nine routes in the city were cancelled.
Expressway services to Dublin and Cork were also hit.
The dispute is centred on the Galway to London bus service, and the filling of four vacancies at Galway bus station.
Negotiations between station management and the NBRU, which represents the bulk of the city's bus drivers, broke down on Monday evening.
Although private bus services continued to operate within the city and between Galway, Dublin and Shannon there was mounting anger yesterday at the hardship the stoppage had been causing.
Mr Michael Coyle, chief executive of Galway Chamber of Commerce, expressed concern about the impact on business and tourism.
It was reported that some unofficial contact was made yesterday involving NBRU and SIPTU members attached to Galway bus station in relation to opening dialogue. Mr Jimmy Woolley, of Bus Éireann, confirmed that the Labour Relations Commission had agreed to convene talks tomorrow.
"Incidents such as this, at a time when we are trying to encourage greater use of public transport, are something that everyone is keen to avoid," said a spokesman for Mr Cullen.
Bus Éireann apologised for the inconvenience caused to commuters.
In a separate development, flights have resumed at Galway Airport after completion of a runway overlay project in "record" time.
The project, which involved closing the airport at Carnmore over four days, involved laying a 75mm asphalt surface over 39,000 square metres of runway and repainting it with new markings.
An instrument landing system for night flights was also installed, while airfield lighting was upgraded. A new taxi-way for aircraft was introduced, and a new 4.5-kilometre perimeter fence was constructed.
