Leo Varadkar and Micheal Martin are expected to meet this week to discuss a date for the general election.
The Taoiseach said after reflecting on possible dates over the Christmas period he hopes to meet with the Fianna Fail leader in the coming days.
Mr Vardakar sent a letter to Mr Martin shortly before Christmas detailing a number of issues he wants to address before he agrees to a date.
Speaking to the media on Monday, Mr Varadkar denied the demands in his letter were too high.
"Obviously he set out his position in his letter and I set out my position in mine, which I sent just before Christmas," he added.
"The next step is for us to meet and discuss it and it's intended that will happen this week.
"It's not my priority today as you can imagine, my priority today is the situation in our hospitals and of course, the events in Northern Ireland, which I'm following very closely and the events in Wexford and I have been in touch with the Coast Guard, so that's my concern for today.
"I did reflect on it over the Christmas break. I've responded in writing to Micheal Martin and we hope to meet later this week to follow up on that."
