Sharing power with the PDs has the advantage that the blame for unpopular decisions can also be shared. Tough decisions would be much harder with only the support of Independents, writes Marie O'Halloran
Fianna Fáil is looking at a long and very tough path ahead over the next few years.
The soon-to-be-formed government will probably have a brief honeymoon, but difficult decisions will begin to loom before long.
The thorny issue of privatisation will come to the fore for this government and the Soldiers of Destiny want to be prepared.
Privatisation is on the negotiations agenda with the Progressive Democrats, who have effectively turned it into part of their philosophy. That became a clear and distinct part of their election manifesto.
Fianna Fáil is a broader church and takes the view that privatisation should be treated on a case-by-case basis.
As a party with an "almost but not quite" majority, it would have a much harder privatisation journey without the Progressive Democrats, particularly when decisions impact on individual constituencies.
Sharing the power also means it can share the blame for unpopular decisions that are considered necessary, and that would be much more difficult with only the support of Independents.
The Progressive Democrats' plan is quite clear. Under "Restructuring the State's Asset Portfolio" in its 92-page manifesto, the party plans to set up a National Transformation Fund.
It explains it as a form of "asset exchange". Companies it believes the State has no strategic case for holding on to would be sold off and the monies put into the fund.
The money raised would then be used to finance "new assets" such as roads, schools, hospitals and railways.
The sale of State companies would also produce a "windfall gain" for the taxpayer.
The PD plan reflects the experience of the Telecom Éireann sale. Privatisation was widely unpopular before this flotation.
Then the idea briefly became a national attraction as hundreds of thousands rushed out to buy their shares.
Privatising Telecom became a popular option among employees at the company once the Communications Workers' Union negotiated a 15 per cent stake for employees.
It did not work out for the general public but an employees' stake is part of what the PDs envisage in their plan.
The party says it will "release State companies" to the private sector where that is in the best long-term interest of the taxpayer, the company and the employees.
The ESB, Bord Gáis, Aer Lingus and commercial ports are part of the PDs' privatisation plans. However, it wants to retain the transmission business of the ESB, Eirgrid, in public ownership.
Equally, it stresses that "natural public monopolies" should not be transferred into natural private ones so it plans to hold also onto railways, water and sewage services as well as energy transmission.
Fianna Fáil is far more circumspect in its plans and tends to regard privatisation with suspicion. It will have an agency rather than the PDs fund. It has called this the National Development Finance Agency, under the auspices of the National Treasury Management Agency.
It will stick to public-private partnerships and the private sector will help fund infrastructural developments. The agency would evaluate "all the financial aspects and the risks".
It would focus initially on national roads, public transport, schools and health facilities for older people and the disabled.
There is little in the way of detail or the actual financing.
"Irresponsible policies could return us to the failed models of the 1980s," the party warns in its manifesto.
The party also warns of the necessity for "responsible budgetary policies" and says "investment in the long-term security of our prosperity are absolutely vital.