The Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has said he is preparing for a snap election "in case it does happen".
Speaking to Pat Kenny, he said he is hopeful the Confidence and Supply Agreement with Fianna Fáil will be extended.
"We're asking for an agreed election date in the summer of 2020, thus giving us political stability throughout the Brexit negotiations, through Brexit happening itself, removing any uncertainty about when the general election may be held.
"And I set out as well an outline of what I think Fine Gael and Independents in government could achieve if we're given that extension".
But he also said they are preparing for a worst-case scenario.
"We're a political party, we need to be prepared.
"In the same way we're preparing for a hard Brexit, even though we don't think it's going to happen, we think it's prudent that we prepare for a snap election just in case it does happen or it becomes necessary".
Trump visit
On the visit of US President Donald Trump in November, Mr Varadkar said he will not hold back on issues.
"What I intend to do is use the opportunity to talk about issues of shared interest and issues of shared concern."
"We've very strong links - economic, cultural and family links - want to maintain them and deepen them.
"The relationship between Ireland and the US is much more important than any particular president or any particular Taosieach.
"But there are also areas where there's an enormous divergence now on the position between the position of Irish Government and the European Union and America on issues like free trade - for example - on issues like migration, on issues like climate change.
"And I certainly won't be behind the door in robustly saying to President Trump what I think and the Irish people think about those things".
Economic shock
On a warning from the Fiscal Advisory Council that adverse shocks to the economy are "inevitable", Mr Varadkar suggested it would not be as bad as before.
"I think we have to prepare for the future - I don't anticipate we're going to have another financial crisis or economic crisis or shock which we had eight years ago.
"That's kind of a once in a generation event.
"But it is true to say that at some point the economy will slow down; economies are cyclical.
"And also we have to be prepared for the possibility of a shock - whether it's from Brexit or something else that we can't predict like major increase in oil prices or a change in international trade or tax policy.
"And we are actually prepared for that".
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