Senators expressed their relief at the settlement of the teachers' dispute yesterday.

But Senate president Alf Oughton called for more effort to be put into resolving industrial conflicts before bringing in a third party.

He said he was constantly amazed that such disputes are not resolved around the negotiating table.

"The unfortunate thing is that once a third party is involved the element of trust has been damaged. Some time needs to be given between the two parties to reach a meaningful agreement," Sen. Oughton said.

"More effort needs to go into coming to an agreement without going to a third party."

The dispute was eventually resolved by mediation.

Earlier Attorney General Sen. Larry Mussenden had revealed that Premier Alex Scott had played a crucial role behind the scenes.

"What a lot of people don't know is that it was the work of the Premier who was behind the scenes and he was dialling around and getting people to talk," he said.

"We were able to get this matter resolved before it went too long and caused disruption in the system. This Government has always supported teachers and has always valued teachers."