'Stable government' required to fight pandemic, Michael McGrath says ahead of Green talks

Fianna Fáil’s finance spokesperson has said that he expects “detailed discussions” about government formation to commence this week between his party, Fine Gael and the Green Party.

The three party leaders are to meet today, something Michael McGrath described as a “significant development”.

He said he hoped today’s discussions will lead to agreement about the format and structure of the talks.

Mr McGrath added that there needs to be a recognition that there is an obligation to make every effort to form a government and, with the Covid-19 pandemic, there is an urgency in the talks.

“Fianna Fáil will do all we can,” he told Morning Ireland.

It was important to see progress this week, he said, especially after seeing the “very sobering” statistics of lives lost to Covid-19 “every statistic represents a family.”

Mr McGrath said that Fianna Fáil “will leave no stone unturned” with regard to the formation of a new government. He could not put a date on when a government would be formed, however, he said it was important to get it right and that any new government would need to be durable.

“We want this to be a stable government to deal with this enormous challenge.”

When asked about the prospect of another election, Mr McGrath replied that there was no prospect of holding another election in Ireland any time soon as the public would not support such a move at this time.