'Most of a programme for government' has now been agreed between Fine Gael, Fianna Fáil and the Green Party, with the leaders of the three parties attempting to finalise the deal today.
Negotiations continued until around 3:30am this morning as representatives from each party attempted to reach a deal.
Eamon Ryan, Leo Varadkar and Micheál Martin are meeting at Government Buildings this evening in a bid to reach an agreement on the outstanding issues.
Arriving for the meeting, Fianna Fáil leader Micheál Martin said he expected an agreement would be reached today.
Micheal Martin suggests parties will vote on Programme for a Government without knowing who will serve as Taoiseach. Says he expects deal to be signed tonight. pic.twitter.com/ql0bkHcZgK
— Ben Finnegan (@_BenFinnegan) June 14, 2020
Speaking on his way into Government Buildings, Green leader Eamon Ryan also said he thinks the deal does need to be done today.
“I think it does have to be today” says Eamon Ryan, Green Party leader entering Government Buildings. Says #governmentformation needs to happen to get the country’s recovery started. pic.twitter.com/2j9i3bbfFf
— Ben Finnegan (@_BenFinnegan) June 14, 2020
Earlier, Tánaiste Simon Coveney said the parties now "effectively have a text" for a programme for government, and that it's now up to the three party leaders to resolve the few remaining issues.
He explained: "We had a very successful conclusion to the discussions between negotiating teams last night - I think that has injected real momentum and has built trust between parties.
"The leaders... have had a number of issues they've been considering for a while, and hopefully they'll be able to bring those issues to a conclusion today."
Green Party TD Ossian Smyth confirmed 'most' of a deal had been agreed overnight.
Issues remaining include those around the Occupied Territories Bill, pensions, a ban on fracked gas imports, potential income tax cuts and carbon tax proposals.
It's believed a ban on fracked gas imports would likely see Green Party deputy leader Catherine Martin backing the overall deal, which could prove significant in persuading two-thirds of party members to approve the agreement.
Once a deal is agreed, it will then go to the parliamentary parties for approval.
If the parties sign off on the agreement, both Fianna Fáil and the Green Party will have to hold postal ballots on the deal as members of the two parties need to sign off on any government deal.
The Fine Gael approval system is based on an electoral college process as opposed to a ballot of all members.
