Green Party press conference:Green Party members will not be told how many ministers the party will have in coalition with Fianna Fáil and the Progressive Democrats before they vote on the draft coalition agreement.
Last night, Green Party leader Trevor Sargent said the selection of ministers was a matter "fundamentally" for the Taoiseach.
"We will not be going into detail in relation to the formation of the government unless we have the prospect of the formation of the government."
Speaking shortly after the draft deal was reached, Mr Sargent said: "Following long and detailed negotiations with the Fianna Fáil party, I would like to confirm that the Green Party's negotiating team, our reference group and I believe that we have a basis for an agreement on a programme for government which we are now going to present to our members."
The first round of talks with Fianna Fáil, which ended in deadlock last Friday night, "had to conclude as insufficient progress had been made", he said.
"Now we feel the roadblocks that existed have been worked through. Tomorrow we will welcome our members from the four corners of Ireland to a meeting at the Mansion House in Dublin to read, discuss, debate and then finally vote on this document.
"It is our members who will democratically decide if the Green Party is to enter the next Irish government."
Every member of the parliamentary party, and other senior figures involved in the last fortnight's tortuous negotiations, supported the draft agreement, including Ciarán Cuffe, who said two weeks ago that coalition with Fianna Fáil would be like "a deal with the devil".
The draft agreement will go before up to 1,000 party delegates in the Mansion House at 1pm today. The meeting itself will start at 3pm with a presentation and questions-and-answers session. Debate will begin at 6pm, with a vote at 8.30pm and a result soon after 9pm.
The package represented "a huge achievement" for Green policies, Mr Sargent said, although he refused to go into compromises which might have been made in relation to matters such as the Greens' opposition to the building of private hospitals on public hospital grounds.
"We recognise that a coalition government will entail compromises," Mr Sargent told journalists at a quickly-called press conference in the party's headquarters on Suffolk Street in central Dublin shortly before 9pm.
Party members now have the opportunity to see policies "that we have been working on for 25 years" finally implemented in the Republic.
Mr Sargent refused to entertain questions about his future as leader of the party, despite his previous declarations that he would step down rather than lead the party into coalition government with Fianna Fáil.
"I am not going to pre-empt our members with anything that I might say in this regard.
"My work is to ensure that the members understand this document fully. We will be explaining it as clearly as we can.
"I am very hopeful that if this document is ratified we will see real change in this country in the direction of a more sustainable society and greater opportunities for employment, for quality of life. I really am very hopeful."
Questioned about the role of the PDs, Mr Sargent insisted that the Green leadership had agreed a document with Fianna Fáil, and with no one else.
Asked about the impact any future revelations from the Mahon tribunal could have on a new government, Mr Sargent repeatedly said that the Greens "respected" the work of the tribunal, which has inquired into Bertie Ahern's finances.
Accepting that the Greens had campaigned to get Fianna Fáil and the PDs out of office, he said: "The people have spoken, and the electorate has returned TDs to the Dáil."
