The most notable feature of the agreement between Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil to allow for the establishment of a minority government lies not in the detail of the eight-page document but in the fact that the deal was agreed at all.

An arrangement between the party leading the Government and the main Opposition party which is designed to provide political stability has taken Irish politics in a new direction.

Whether the deal will be robust enough to survive unforeseen events over the next three years will be the real test of its strength, but it contains far more than was initially deemed likely when the two parties started their negotiations some weeks ago.

There was doubt at that stage whether there would be a written document at all, so what has emerged is far more than some of those involved had even expected.

Policy principles

Aside from the agreement on water, which is already largely in the public domain, there is agreement on a range of policy principles including the continuation of the Lansdowne Road agreement on public service pay, acceptance of the principle of a two-to-one split in extra resources in favour of public services over tax cuts and acceptance of the HSE five-year service plan.

There are three elements to the deal. The first sets out the core principles for a confidence and supply arrangement that will allow a minority government to function.

Framework

That is followed by two appendices, one detailing a policy framework that will underpin the confidence and supply arrangement and a second setting out in detail the agreement between the two parties on water.

The first section is the key element. At its core is an agreement that Fianna Fáil will commit to facilitating the operation of a Fine Gael-led government for close to three years.

The vital element is that Fianna Fáil has agreed to abstain in the election of taoiseach, the nomination of ministers and also the reshuffling of ministers if and when that arises.

It means the opposition party will facilitate budgets consistent with the agreed policy principles attached to the document and will vote against or abstain on any motions of no confidence in the government, ministers and financial measures recognised as confidence measures.

Fianna Fáil has also agreed to pairing arrangements to facilitate the attendance of Ministers at EU Council meetings, North-South meetings and other government business as agreed.

For its part, Fine Gael has agreed to accept Fianna Fáil is an independent party in opposition and is not a party to a programme for government.

Fine Gael has also agreed to avoid springing policy surprises and introduce a reformed budgetary process in accordance with the OECD review of the Oireachtas along with the agreed Dáil reform process.

Any events that threaten to undermine the agreement will be referred to the two party leaders to try to resolve them.

Aside from the principles underpinning the minority government, there is also a range of commitments by both parties to a set of principles on which it will operate.

Direction

While they do not amount to a programme for government, these principles do give some indication of the direction in which the government is going.

On water, the suspension of the charges and the establishment of a commission have already been well flagged, but both parties reserve the right to take different positions on whatever legislation or resolutions ultimately emerge from the process. Water could come back to undermine the arrangement whenever the process reaches a conclusion but that is likely to take some time.

Instability

Another issue, not mentioned in the deal, which could also have an influence on how long it lasts is how long Enda Kenny remains in the taoiseach’s office. If, as widely expected, he steps down at some point in the next two years that would introduce an element of instability into the arrangement.

All that is in the future but for the moment, the deal between the two parties should provide the security the Independents were looking for to enable a government to be formed within the next week.

The final stage in the process of government formation is agreement between Fine Gael and a sufficient number of Independents to ensure Kenny can be elected taoiseach. The publication of the deal between the two big parties will help that process on its way.