Thousands of nursery nurses are still on strike

At Holyrood question time on Thursday he said "at the right time there would be a case for a national review".

Mr McConnell was speaking as council-employed nursery nurses continued their all-out strike over pay.

Although union Unison said its members should wait for a national settlement, 10 local authorities have agreed deals.

The first minister insisted an independent inquiry would not take place while nursery nurses remained on strike.

Only last week Deputy Education Minister Euan Robson appeared to reject a national review outright.

During question time, Mr McConnell said he would not bow to pressure by Scottish Socialist Party leader Tommy Sheridan and personally intervene in the nursery nurses' strike, which is in its third week.

Extra �4,000

He added: "It is ridiculous that this (the strike) has now been going on for this period of time without face-to-face negotiations taking place.

"I strongly urge both the councils and the trade unions to put their differences aside for a moment, sit down and discuss this matter and put the children and the parents first, and ensure that this dispute is brought to an end at the soonest possible date."

Unison and the local government umbrella group, Cosla, have been at loggerheads since 2003 over current pay and conditions.

At present nursery nurses earn about �13,000 a year but they want an extra �4,000 to reflect additional duties they have had to undertake.

Unison has criticised local deals because it fears they could lead to fluctuations in nursery nurses' salaries.

The union rejected an offer from Cosla which would enable fully-qualified nurses to earn �18,000 a year.

Cosla has said local deals are the only way to resolve the current dispute.