TAOISEACH Leo Varadkar has warned that there is no 'Plan B' for forming a new government should the proposed coalition deal fall through.
The Fine Gael party leader stressed that unless the coalition deal was agreed to, Ireland could be thrown into political crisis.
The offer currently on the table is for a coalition government to be formed between Fine Gael, Fianna Fail and the Green Party which could last until 2025.
However, some of the Taoiseach's advisors have warned him to have a 'Plan B' at the ready, something Varadkar decided against due to his insistence that Fine Gael entered coalition talks in good faith.
"The three parties together won 51% of the vote in the election," Varadkar told Newstalk Breakfast.
"I know there is a party out there that thinks 24.5% is a majority - it's not. 50 plus one is a majority and that is what we have."
Following the general election back in February, no one party managed to secure a majority in order to form a government.
A second election was looking likely until the coronavirus pandemic threw a spanner in the works.
The need for a stable government increased, and the major parties around the country have been informally locked in talks with each other ever since.
Together, Fine Gael, Fianna Fail and the Green Party have enough seats to secure a majority of a over 50%, despite Sinn Fein winning the popular vote in the election earlier this year.
Mr Varadkar insisted that his party would have been happy to return to opposition after the election but were forced to "step up" when Sinn Fein failed to form a government.
"Sinn Fein, despite their protestations, never really tried," he said.
"They didn't even come up with a framework document with the far-left. They voted for Mary Lou [McDonald] initially, but they couldn't even agree a common policy among themselves.
"So, given that the opposition on the left were so incapable of delivering on any of the promises they made, we felt we should step back in and this was our best attempt and perhaps only attempt to form a government," Varadkar added.
