The Northern Ireland Secretary, Mr Paul Murphy, will meet local political parties today to discuss their ideas for restoring devolved government.
The meeting follows the release of proposals by the DUP aimed at giving power of decision-making to the 10-member Assembly in the absence of an Executive.
Mr Murphy, who described the plans as interesting and constructive, said he believed all the parties should take time to consider them carefully.
The political institutions in Northern Ireland have been suspended since October 2002 when allegations of IRA intelligence gathering at Stormont first surfaced.
Last week, parties elected to the Assembly in last November's elections met at Stormont to begin a review of the Belfast Agreement.
But nationalists have already rejected the DUP's formula for "corporate devolution". Sinn Féin's Mr Conor Murphy said it "smacks of an attempt to return to majority rule".
The SDLP's senior negotiator, Mr Sean Farren, said the DUP in its proposals have not committed to working all the institutions of the Agreement.
Mr David Trimble has also dismissed the plan, accusing the DUP of watering down demands for IRA decommissioning before devolution could be restored. "I don't think those who voted for the DUP voted for that," he added.
But the DUP's deputy leader Peter Robinson rejected the criticism that his party's proposals were a devious attempt to avoid IRA decommissioning.
PA