RELATIONS between Fianna Fail and Labour have deteriorated further following the Tanaiste's dismissal of the possibility of a coalition between the two parties.
As sources in Fianna Fail yesterday expressed surprise at the definitive nature of Mr Spring's weekend conference address, the party leader, Mr Bertie Ahern, challenged the Tanaiste to state precisely why he objected to him and his party.
During his Saturday night speech to his party conference in Limerick, Mr Spring had not articulated "one reason" as to why he objected to Fianna Fail.
"What is wrong with Fianna Fail? What is wrong with me? ... What is it he finds so objectionable about the Fianna Fail party that, not alone are we not his first option or his second option or any option, but he says to the Irish people he has nothing to do with us whatsoever?" Mr Ahern asked.
He had no intention of saying that, on the other side of an election, his party would ignore the will of the people and "start sulking ourselves into opposition or oblivion".
After an election, a Labour Party special conference was unlikely to go against Mr Spring's wish that it should not do business with Fianna Fail or the Progressive Democrats. "Dick Spring has nailed his colours to the mast and - there is no road back for him."
The Taoiseach, Mr Bruton, rowed in behind the Coalition's determination to engage in a tight voting arrangement, saying he would be urging Fine Gael supporters to give 100 per cent backing to Labour and Democratic Left candidates in their transfers.
Meanwhile, it is understood that the prospect of an EU summit coinciding with the general election would not deter the Government from going ahead with polling on May 23rd. It is widely expected that this will be the general election date and sources last night indicated that, should the election be called for that date, it would not be affected by a summit in the Netherlands.
As enmity between Labour and Fianna Fail continued to fester following Mr Spring's statement, the Fianna Fail spokesman on social welfare, Dr Michael Woods, accused Labour of attempting to rewrite the history of the last 10 years. The Labour Party had described as a period of "social misery" the years when Fianna Fail and the Progressive Democrats shared government. This allegation, Dr Woods said, would find "absolutely no echo in anyone's memory".
"The facts show that spending on health, education and social welfare increased by substantially more in the three years of the Fianna Fail PD government than under the rainbow Coalition. Spending on health, education and social welfare had increased by 40 per cent, 27 per cent and 29 per cent respectively under the Fianna Fail Progressive Democrats alliance."
However, under the present Coalition, expenditure in health had only gone up by 20.5 per cent in a three year period while education and social welfare had increased spending of just 18 per cent each, he said.
Meanwhile, the Minister for Social Welfare, Mr De Rossa, has called on Fianna Fail to say if it supports proposals put forward by the Progressive Democrats on taxation in a series of newspaper advertisements over the weekend.
According to the leader of Democratic Left, the proposed reductions in tax rates would cost over £1,000 million to implement and "could only be achieved by slashing a wide range of essential social services". It was "essential" that Fianna Fail made its position known on these proposals because the Progressive Democrat leader, Ms Mary Harney, had said her party's line on taxation was "strictly non negotiable".
According to Mr De Rossa, the implications of the drop in tax revenue would be "catastrophic" for a wide range of public services and would have major implications for health, education, social welfare and justice.
The Green Party has said it is prepared to discuss the possibility of going into government with either coalition option as long as the maximum number of its policies is implemented.