A Fine Gael minister has admitted his party will need the support of Fianna Fáil to enter government in any shape or form.
Richard Bruton says it's now clear that the two largest parties will need to co-operate in some way to offer a stable government.
Teams from both parties are to continue meeting with smaller parties and independents in efforts to form a new government.
But Minister Bruton says ultimately the two largest parties will have to work together - in some shape or form:
It's the first time that a senior Fine Gael minister has conceded that an arrangement with the party's longtime rival will be required to break the political impasse.
The remarks come a day after a member of Fianna Fáil's negotiating team, Barry Cowen, suggested one of the two parties should agree to facilitate a minority government led by the other.
The Dáil is due to hold its next votes on appointing a Taoiseach on April 6th.
Appearing on RTE's The Week in Politics, Cowen suggested the leader with greater support on that date should be given clearance to form a minority government - with the runner-up agreeing to step back, and support the other's government on a case-by-case basis.
This would mean that, if Micheal Martin were unable to build a coalition that gave him more popularity than Enda Kenny, he would concede defeat and allow Kenny to support a minority government which would enjoy FF support on key areas.
The plan was struck down by Fine Gael's health minister Leo Varadkar who refused to countenance any idea where Fine Gael could support the formation of a FF-led minority.
Varadkar, however, did not comment on the prospect of Kenny defeating Martin - and therefore whether FG could accept FF's explicit support from the opposition benches.
Those comments may have been influenced by an opinion poll at the weekend which indicated that if a second election were to be required, there would be no major difference in the support of either FG or FF.
