Micheal Martin has said a pre-Christmas general election would require key legislation to be passed in the coming weeks.
Fianna Fail leader Mr Martin said there were two potential dates for an election – the end of November/early December or February next year.
However, the Tanaiste insisted that the election could not go ahead without the passing of the Finance Bill.
Taosieach Simon Harris has previously said that when he dissolves parliament and triggers an election, he will first speak to the leaders of the other coalition parties.
Amid intensifying speculation the Government may be poised to trigger a winter election, Mr Harris has continually insisted he is focused on the Fine Gael, Fianna Fail and Green Party coalition going full term – which would mean an election in early 2025.
Mr Martin, who has previously suggested he preferred a 2025 election, said he had not yet had a discussion on its timing with Fine Gael leader Mr Harris and Green Party leader Roderic O’Gorman.
Speaking to the Irish Times Inside Politics podcast, Mr Martin said his view remained that the Government has “work to complete”.
He said: “To a large extent there are two dates for this election – one is end of November/beginning of December, or February.
“The gap between November and February isn’t huge.”
Mr Martin pointed to the legislative timeframe, stating that the Government had passed its Planning Bill and was about to pass its Gambling Bill and hoped to pass a Mental Health Bill in the coming weeks.
He added: “The Finance Bill will be the key piece of legislation and that scheduling is in for the first week of November for committee stage.
“If it’s the desire of some and others to do things earlier, we’d need to game that and people would need to work through the timelines around critical pieces of legislation.”
Taoiseach Simon Harris has said he will discuss the election date with coalition leaders (Niall Carson/PA)
Mr Martin continued: “I think what people want is to complete work to make sure that there’s a solid bit of work done and that we end up, that we end the Government in a harmonious way, having worked together for four-and-a-half years now.
“It would make a difference if you don’t get the Finance Act through. The Finance Act is important in terms of a whole range of measures.
“That has to get through before we can have an election.”
Mr Martin said he believed the difference between an election in November and February is “marginal”.
He added: “I felt February gave us a comfort zone to get stuff done.
“But I think the Finance Act has to be done.”