The Fianna Fáil party have once again reiterated their stance in regards to the current Confidence and supply agreement with Fine Gael following a request from the Taoiseach Leo Varadkar and his party to extend the current deal.
Fianna Fáil’s decision comes ahead of a crucial day for Pre-Budget negotiations which are expected to determine the course of the current Fine Gael minority led Government.
It is understood Mícheál Martin has rejected the Taoiseach’s approach to start negotiations on extending the deal early as he and his party want reassurances over certain proposals in next month’s Budget.
Although Fianna Fáil are likely to continue the current agreement, Mr Martin has said any negotiations surrounding the current deal with Fine Gael will not happen until after October’s Budget.
It is thought the Fine Gael party have grown inpatient with the Fianna Fáil party as they want reassurance that Mr Martin will support the agreement until the next General Election in 2020.
Fine Gael say a decision on the current agreement must be made sooner rather than later in order for the Government to deal with other issues affecting the country.