With a government deal expected to be agreed in the coming hours, Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael and the Green Party will now have to convince their members to back it.
Micheál Martin, Leo Varadkar and Eamon Ryan have today signed off on a programme for government.
They will meet with their fellow TDs and Senators this evening and vote on whether to send it to their party members for agreement.
Voting systems
Each party has its own system for deciding, with Fine Gael expected to be first back with an answer.
The party’s elected representatives, delegates from each constituency and the party’s executive council will all be asked to vote; however, the elected members make up 50% of the electoral college – meaning their support is likely to push the deal over the line.
Meanwhile, Fianna Fáil will hold a ‘one-member, one vote’ postal ballot with papers likely to be sent out to members this evening.
However, the Green Party needs to convince two-thirds of its party members to back the deal to get it passed.
On Newstalk Breakfast this morning, Green Party TD Roderic O’Gorman urged his party colleagues to give it the green light.
“What I would say to the party membership is, why are we in the Green Party fundamentally?” he said.
“Is it to bring about real change in the country? Is it to actually bring about those policies that will actually secure those carbon emissions and better investment in public transport?
“I believe this document does that and the only way to ensure that those proposals actually get done is to have Greens in government.”
On the same show, Fine Gael party chairman Martin Heydon and Fianna Fáil transport spokesman Mark MacSharry also called on their parties to back the programme.
“I would be very hopeful that the membership as a whole, when they go through the detail of it, will embrace the fact once again, that Fianna Fáil are a party of Government,” said Deputy MacSharry.
“There is much in it that needs to be delivered and achieved. That is the challenge and I am hopeful the membership will support that.”
“I believe we will have a document agreed today,” said Deputy Heydon.
“That will be circulated to the members of our parliamentary party and that of the others as well.
“From there, we will have a detailed phase of engagement across all strands of the Fine Gael party with our grassroots members, our councillors and our parliamentary party obviously as well.”
Deadline
The parties will have to come back with their results before the end of next week, if a government is to be in place by the end of the month.
The deadline is tight because a vote on renewing the Offences Against the State Act, which includes legislation underpinning the Special Criminal Court, must be held before June 30th.
The vote can’t be held unless a Taoiseach is in place to nominate 11 members to the Seanad.
It means that a Taoiseach will have to be in place by Monday June 29th at the latest.
