Senior Irish officials will meet their counterparts from the British treasury in London towards the end of this week to discuss details of a financial package for Northern Ireland, The Irish Timeshas learned.
This is the latest in a series of meetings involving civil servants from Dublin and London. The Irish group includes officials from finance, foreign affairs and the Taoiseach's own department.
The North is unlikely to get the full range of benefits if a power-sharing government is not established by the March 26th deadline.
Both governments have separately announced financial plans for the North. The officials will be discussing ways of ensuring the different schemes dovetail together.
So far, about half-a-dozen meetings of this type have taken place over the last year, following a private meeting in London between British chancellor Gordon Brown with Minister for Finance Brian Cowen and Minister for Foreign Affairs Dermot Ahern.
Unlike previous elections, there is keen interest at the doorsteps in economic issues such as the new water charges which are due to be imposed on Northern Ireland.
In the event of a workable executive being formed this month, the parties are expected to seek help from Mr Brown so that water charges can at least be postponed.
The Assembly has power to halt the charges but it would have to come up with alternative funding. The funds required are variously estimated at £100 million to £150 million but this is not generally regarded as an excessive amount in terms of UK resources or by comparison with the £6 billion annual subvention to Northern Ireland.
Mr Brown announced a £50 billion package last November, which incurred some derision in the North because some of it was already budgeted for, but it was arguably quite generous in the light of changing economic circumstances.
The National Development Plan, announced in Dublin on January 23rd, opened up the possibility for Northern Ireland to gain access to or compete for funds of approximately €1 billion for research, infrastructure, tourism, energy resources, regional development and education.
It would be possible to seek funding, for example, to build a modern roadway linking Dublin and Derry, but this would be more likely to come about if a proper working executive were in place.
Sinn Féin leader Gerry Adams said yesterday on TV3's The Political Party that he was "optimistic" about a power-sharing deal. He also told RTÉ's The Week in Politics that if the DUP failed to agree to power-sharing, the process of change had to continue without them.
