Ms Bacik informed members of the decision at a parliamentary party meeting today.
Speaking outside Leinster House this afternoon, the party leader said while they had talked to Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil in exploratory talks relating to policy, it was clear there was “a policy gulf” between them.
“I do want to acknowledge we’ve had engagement. It’s been very useful,” Ms Bacik said. “However, as I indicated to the parliamentary party today, following the engagements we’ve had, I formed the assessment that it is not possible for us to enter any negotiations on government formation.”
In particular, the party leader highlighted Labour’s desire to have a more active interventions by the state going forward but said she did not believe that was possible if Labour entered into coalition with Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael.
“There is a gulf, a divide in our vision of what the future can be, of the future for the state, and in particular our Labour vision that we articulated throughout the election campaign. That vision is for an active state,” Ms Bacik said.
Ms Bacik said Labour’s wish for the Land Development Agency to transition into a state construction company had been an issue during the talks.
“Particularly, with Fianna Fáil, there was skepticism about how that could be delivered, or indeed about their willingness to deliver on it. Equally with the publicly provided system of childcare that we’ve called for, again, perhaps more clearly from Fianna Fail than from Fine Gael a reluctance to engage on that.
Ms Bacik said she had informed both Taoiseach Simon Harris and Tánaiste Micheál Martin of her decision.
She said while Labour was “never content to sit on the sidelines”, she acknowledged that with the numbers the way they were after the election, it meant it would be difficult for any small party to have leverage during the talks.
Because the number of Dáil TDs increased to 174, it meant that parties needed 88 for a majority. Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael have 86 TDs combined after the last election.
While reports had pointed to Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil favouring Labour as a potential coalition partner before the election, attention quickly turned to Independent candidates.
Ms Bacik said she believed that if the negotiations continued as they currently were, the next government would not be one of change.
However, she said her party was still focused on building on the possibility of a centre-left government in the future.
“We think it will be a government very much about status quo, if the current direction of travel is to be believed. It will not be the government change that we stood for, that we want to see.
“We will hold the government to account but we also want to build to the point where we see a centre-left-led government. That is our ambition.”
