Hogan: Draft programme for govt is on table

Fine Gael and Labour negotiators are battling to resolve final key issues in a draft deal to form a coalition government by next week.

Party leaders Enda Kenny and Eamon Gilmore are expecting to be handed a proposed blueprint for partnership by this evening.

Fine Gael negotiator Phil Hogan said there weren’t too many hurdles left to overcome between both sides.

“We are at a stage now where we have a draft of a proposed programme for government,” he said.

“We are going though it to see if we can resolve all the outstanding issues.

“There are not too many to be resolved.”

Any deal will be put before a 1,000-strong Labour Party special delegate conference tomorrow, while Fine Gael would seek the backing of its TDs and senators.

The negotiations at Government Buildings are complex, with the parties at odds over the length of time it will take to turn around the budget deficit, tax, public sector cuts, water charges and how to tackle bondholder responsibility for banking debts.

While negotiators went head-to-head bargaining on policies, Taoiseach-designate Enda Kenny was in Helsinki yesterday for a meeting of the European People’s Party, to which Fine Gael is affiliated.

He rubbed shoulders with EU leaders including European Commission president Jose Manuel Barroso, European Council president Herman Van Rompuy and German chancellor Angela Merkel.

The contacts were intended to open the door for a charm offensive and garner support to renegotiate the €85bn loans.

Labour leader Eamon Gilmore travelled to Athens for a meeting of the Party of European Socialists.

Both men are due back in Dublin today.

The party negotiators have been taking briefings from economist Colm McCarthy, the Department of Finance, the National Treasury Management Agency and Central Bank governor Patrick Honohan.

Both sides claimed the information confirmed the depth of the crisis facing the country.

The negotiating teams have also gone head-to-head on their respective health and education policies.

Labour is under pressure not to strike a deal from both its youth wing, grass roots and the Unite trade union, which has called on the party to back away from joining with Fine Gael and form a strong left-leaning opposition.

The Fine Gael team is led by highly-regarded finance spokesman Michael Noonan, director of elections Mr Hogan, and combative front-bencher Alan Shatter.

Labour’s negotiators include the party’s former leader Mr Rabbitte, deputy leader and finance spokeswoman Joan Burton, constitutional expert Brendan Howlin and policy director Colm O’Reardon.

A quick deal is needed as Ireland faces a series of challenging hurdles linked to its multibillion-euro bailout loans from the International Monetary Fund and Europe, and the banking crisis.