Update 2.49pm: Shane Ross said today that independent TDs will not negotiate with Fine Gael or Fianna Fáil under the threat of a second election.

Last night the Acting Health Minister Leo Varadkar, tweeted a photograph of his posters saying they were cleaned and ready to be deployed again.

My posters cleaned, counted, stored and ready to be deployed pic.twitter.com/TPiAU1ZMcM — Leo Varadkar (@LeoVaradkar) April 3, 2016

"We're not going to negotiate under threat, we're not going to take that sort of nonsense from Varadkar or anybody else, that there's a General Election threatened," said the Dublin Rathdown TD.

"We won't regard that as something we can respond to positively, but we're certainly not going to negotiate or take that sort of threat seriously."

Earlier: The Health Minister Leo Varadkar has been attacked after he tweeted a photo of his election posters, saying he was ready to run again.

Leo Varadkar tweeted the picture last night, saying his posters were 'ready to be deployed'.

However, independents including Mattie McGrath say he is trying to bully them.

Mr McGrath said: "Silly, pedantic behaviour from Minister Varadkar. Above all the people in the talks, and I am not breaking any confidence at all, he was the most disinterested.

"Obviously preparing his tweets or counting how many posts...in his tweet, it's pathetic really.

"And obviously his ambition must be to try and bully us, frighten us. I'm as ready for an election as anyone, but the public don't want an election."