A number of crucial issues have still to be agreed in talks between Fine Gael and Labour on the formation of a coalition government, according to senior party figures.
As negotiations continued, Labour’s Pat Rabbitte said a number of policy issues dividing the two sides had still to be ironed out. He warned that negotiations would have to conclude tonight if a programme for government were to be ready in time for a special Labour Party meeting on Sunday.
Speculation was mounting today that Sunday’s meeting may be rescheduled because of the extended nature of negotiations.
Arriving at Government Buildings this morning, Mr Rabbitte said: “Today is D-Day in so much as the special Labour delegate conference is scheduled for Sunday afternoon, and therefore if there is going to be space to publish a programme, we would have to finish tonight."
Labour’s finance spokeswoman, Joan Burton, said today the meeting may be rescheduled for Tuesday. However, she insisted the possibility of a delay into next week is the result of a tight timetable for the talks and was not an indication that the talks were going badly.
Describing the atmosphere in the talks as cordial, Fine Gael's Phil Hogan said progress was being made in several policy areas and that he was confident a deal could be agreed before the Dáil resumes next Wednesday. "Everybody wants to progress the work as quickly as possible with a view to giving us an opportunity to add any issues that have to be resolved by the party leaders dealt with well in advance of Wednesday," he said.
Fine Gael leader Enda Kenny travelled to Helsinki today for a meeting of the European People’s Party where he will join the leaders of 14 EU countries in a discussion of the major issues facing the EU, including the Irish bank bailout.
Labour's Eamon Gilmore travelled to Athens this afternoon for a meeting of the European Socialist grouping.
Fine Gael and Labour sources expressed the view last night that agreement was by no means assured. Fine Gael sources outside the talks suggested that the party had a strong fall-back position and could realistically hope to form a government without the support of Labour.
Sources close to both sides reported that there had been serious tensions yesterday over which party would get the Finance portfolio. But this problem appeared to have eased last night. “The really important issue is fiscal policy and the time-frame for dealing with the current mess. If that can be sorted the question of who gets Finance should not be an issue, but there is no guarantee that it can be sorted,” said one source.
Fine Gael is insisting that the €9 billion adjustment in the public finances be completed by 2014 as agreed under the EU-IMF while Labour wants the target date pushed back to 2016.
In the negotiations to date, Fine Gael is believed to have stressed that the party has received a mandate to get the job finished by 2014, while Labour negotiators have argued that it will be impossible to achieve the target in that time-frame without severe damage to the economy.
The agreement of the EU and the IMF will be required if there is any change in the time-frame or the overall targets set out in the four-year plan.
On the third full day of negotiations yesterday, the teams engaged for the first time in detailed discussions on the policy issues dividing them.
Both sides acknowledged the difficulties of finding an accommodation on the scale and timing of the downward adjustment of State spending, as well as the appropriate number of job reductions in the public sector.
At one stage, a disagreement between Fine Gael and Labour over which party should get the Finance portfolio appeared to become a sticking point but the parties agreed to put it to one side and deal with the policy issues that divide them.
Mr Kenny and Mr Gilmore met yesterday morning to discuss progress before the two negotiating teams came together. A Fine Gael spokesman said economic and banking matters were still dominant but that discussions broadened out to include health, education and other areas.
Officials and outside advisers from the parties have been working in tandem with negotiators in drawing up position papers on less contentious policy areas that can be quickly agreed by the negotiating teams at the end of the process.
The Fine Gael team is led by its finance spokesman Michael Noonan who is accompanied by Alan Shatter and Mr Hogan. The Labour Party team is led by Brendan Howlin and also includes Mr Rabbitte and Ms Burton.