The Northern Ireland Secretary has said he outlined a "generous financial package" that would be "available from day one of a re-formed Executive" to party leaders during talks today.
Chris Heaton-Harris said the people of Northern Ireland had been without the locally-elected politicians they voted in for 23 months.
The Stormont Assembly has been effectively collapsed for almost two years while the DUP refuses to take part while unionist concerns on post-Brexit trading arrangements remain.
The largest Stormont parties met with Mr Heaton-Harris today, days ahead of a strike planned by public sector workers over pay.
Thursday also marks the deadline for Mr Heaton-Harris to call fresh Assembly elections if the institutions are still not functioning.
The Northern Secretary said he emphasised during the talks that "the Windsor Framework talks with the DUP had effectively concluded".
"I'm pleased to say we were able to make further progress last week and have urged all parties to take the next step and form an Executive," he said.
He said he would have "various decisions to make" if power sharing is not restored by Friday and he would set out the next steps in "due course".
DUP leader Jeffrey Donaldson says his party remains in talks with government on the matter.
Alliance Party leader Naomi Long warned that patience with Northern Ireland is "running out" in London as she urged the DUP to return to devolved government.
Ms Long has appealed once again for the DUP to return to powersharing, but added that her pleas may fall on "deaf ears".
She said that the £3.3 billion (€3.8 billion) on offer from the UK government was not something to be "sniffed at" and said there was "no suggestion from Treasury" that the money would still be available if there was no return to powersharing.
She also warned that patience with Northern Ireland in London is "running out".
Last week the chairman of the Northern Ireland Affairs Committee Robert Buckland urged the DUP to show leadership, suggesting "there isn't a perfect solution for them".
He also indicated that "old-style direct rule of the past" from London was off the table if devolved government could not be resurrected.
The Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs Micheál Martin appealed to parties to come to an agreement in the current round of talks so that the executive and the assembly there can be restored.
He said he was always hopeful of a breakthrough and he believed there had been stages where a breakthrough was very close. He said he remained hopeful that the Northern Ireland Assembly could be restored quickly.
"A financial offer has been put on the table in respect of the budgetary challenges that the new executive in Northern Ireland faces, but in terms of public service pay that public servants are looking for and waiting for, in terms of services, in terms of housing and health, it is very important that the executive and the assembly are restored," Mr Martin said.
"I would appeal to all concerned to focus on the needs of the people and to allow people's vote to be validated though the re-convening of the assembly and the government."
'Let's avoid the strike on Thursday'
SDLP leader Colum Eastwood urged the UK government to release funding to make a pay award to public sector workers ahead of Thursday's strike.
He said he believes it is "scandalous we're still at this point" while the Stormont Assembly remains collapsed amid DUP protest action over post-Brexit trading arrangements, adding people were in a "twilight zone waiting for the DUP to make a decision".
"The first thing that I said to the Secretary of State was, 'we now know you have the money so let's get (it) spent'," he said.
"Let's avoid the strike on Thursday."
The DUP has said significant progress had been made in talks with the British government on restoring powersharing, but it declined to give a timetable for a deal.
"We've made real progress and I am hopeful we can get to a point where a decision can be made about the restoration of the political institutions," DUP leader Jeffrey Donaldson told journalists.
Sinn Féin vice president Michelle O'Neill meanwhile said there had been no indications of a "chink of light" on the talks between the UK government and the DUP, and said she was not feeling "very positive" after a meeting with Northern Ireland Secretary Chris Heaton-Harris at Hillsborough Castle.
Ms O'Neill said today that this is "increasingly untenable" and said there had been no indications of a "chink of light" on the UK government-DUP talks.
"I think the further we get away from the Windsor Framework, which was completed last year, I think it's increasingly untenable that the DUP can hide behind that argument that this is about Brexit and the (Northern Ireland) Protocol," she said.
"I think many people, reasonable minds, would turn their heads to 'is this about that or is this about the election result of May last year?' I think that that will become very clear in the coming days."
She called on the DUP to end the stalemate in the "small window" before Thursday's deadline.
It comes as the Stormont Assembly is to be recalled later this week in a bid to back a motion to endorse fair pay settlements for public sector workers.
The recall petition tabled by Sinn Féin received the required 30 MLA signatures.
The Assembly will sit at 12pm on Wednesday.
Several previous attempts to reconstitute the Assembly have already failed as the DUP has not supported the election of a speaker at the outset of the sittings.
Stormont parties have said Mr Heaton-Harris should release the £3.3 billion (€3.8 billion) for the public sector pay awards immediately.
Ms O'Neill said: "We find ourselves in a scenario where the politics are stagnant and the money that's there to pay public sector workers is hanging in the balance. So, we made sure that he was pretty clear of our view, which is that that money should be paid and he (Heaton-Harris) should absolutely divorce the two things."
A number of teachers unions protested outside Hillsborough Castle as the talks were held.
A number of parents of children with special needs are also protesting at Hillsborough and say their children will be disproportionately affected by the strike action.
They chanted "you're paid, pay them" outside the gates of Hillsborough Castle, in a plea to the Northern Secretary to release funding to address a pay claim among public sector workers.
As she arrived at the talks, Ms O'Neill spoke with some of the parents and said she would be raising their concerns during the meeting.
Additional reporting Conor MacAuley, PA
