Bartering right up until the last minute
Horsetrading over how the key Cabinet posts are to be carved up between the two parties will be the culmination of any deal — and will be hammered out between the leaders themselves.
With the negotiating teams close to agreeing the policy dynamic of a coalition government, the two sides broke from intensive bartering yesterday to allow key parts of the agreement to be drafted.
They then resumed their negotiations last night, seeking to ensure the drafted sections were watertight and to finalise a number of policy areas. Both sides denied the talks were being “strung out” for the sake of making it look to their respective hardliners that a tough stance had been taken by each party.
Mr Kenny and Mr Gilmore are expected to sign off on the proposed programme for government when they return from their European trips today.
Labour TDs will be appraised of the details at a parliamentary meeting ahead of a special delegate conference tomorrow which must approve the agreement.
Labour’s deputy leader Joan Burton had earlier speculated that the conference may have to be postponed until Tuesday to allow the policy differences to be bridged. But by last night, there were clear indications that a deal was within reach.
Any deal must be published and approved before the new Dáil meets for the first time next Wednesday to elect the next Taoiseach. Fine Gael’s Phil Hogan stressed the time pressures on the negotiating teams.
“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.
The speed and depth of deficit reduction and the scale of job losses needed in the public sector emerged as key points of convergence between the two sides during talks.
Cabinet posts, and how many of the 15 ministries Labour gets, fall outside the remit of the negotiators and will be handled by the party leaders themselves.
Labour is pushing for six departments, but may be forced to accept five and the creation of a “super junior” ministerial post for one of its heavyweights.
Dublin North East TD Tommy Broughan was among a vocal group of Labourites insisting that the party would serve the nation best by going into opposition against Fine Gael.
He warned of “profound worries” within the party about a coalition and Labour becoming “the mudguard of some other outfit”.
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