Talks Continue To Form New Government

But a hard deadline of next week is emerging for a programme for government to be finished.

Sources involved with the talks say that progress is being made but it's slow going and the most difficult issues are still yet to be resolved.

How and when to pay the bill for COVID-19, changes to the transport system and funding and how to achieve climate targets are all on the agenda today.

Leo Varadkar, Micheál Martin and Eamon Ryan have also had discussions on the talks ahead of Independent TDs being invited into the process.

It's now widely accepted a deal isn't getting finished this week.

But there's going to be issues if it can't be done by next week.

Criminal Justice legislation needs to be re-affirmed by the Oireachtas by the end of June and needs a new government.

The two week voting process from the political parties needs to start next week to give time for that to happen.