Fianna Fáil leader Micheal Martin has accused Fine Gael and its leader Enda Kenny of "rank hypocrisy" over their comments on pensions for TDs and ministers.
As the parties begin a final push to secure support ahead of Friday's vote, Mr Martin today took aim at the Fine Gael leader following reports he was due to receive a €100,000 lump sum payment from his teachers’ pension when he turned 60 in April as well as a €30,000 annual pension.
Mr Martin said he felt the payments to Mr Kenny were “wrong” given that Fine Gael had levied criticism on outgoing ministers for accepting severance payments, which those contesting the election later decided to forego.
Mr Martin said he was the first minister to forego a severance payment and that Mr Kenny had not done this. "He took a pension for 13 years while he was a TD and yet he is allowed go around the country promoting a new policy this," he told RTÉ Radio's This Week programme. "I accuse the Fine Gael party of rank hypocrisy and campaigning around the country on this. They talk the talk but don't walk the walk."
Responding to Mr Martin's claims at a Fine Gael rally at the Aviva Stadium this afternoon, Mr Kenny said he would not be taking any pension from the teaching profession.
Mr Kenny said he had not taken "one red cent" from his former profession in more than 30 years. "Unlike others, my job was resigned by me and was filled on a fully permanent position by some good teacher in my place," he said.
Meanwhile, the parties continued campaigning today. Fianna Fáil published its language strategy, in which it said it wants to introduce comprehensive measures based on scientific evidence and international best practice in language planning, sociolinguistic intervention and education.
Speaking in Cork, Labour leader Eamon Gilmore again warned against a single-party Fine Gael government. He said that the incoming government was inheriting such a serious economic and financial crisis that it was important that it represented a broad span of viewpoints.
"We don't believe that a monopoly of power should be given to one party and the only way we are going to achieve a government that satisfies the criteria of being balanced, fair and stable is if Labour is part of that government and part of it in strength of numbers."
Mr Gilmore was in Cork to launched his party's plans to help struggling homeowners in mortgage debt. This would also involve the conversion of the Money and Advice Budgeting Service (MABS), which is currently costing €18 million a year to run, into a Personal Debt Management Agency. The agency would be operated on a statutory basis at an annual running cost of €24 million a year.
The plan would also involve making greater use of mortgage interest supplements to support homeowners who cannot meet mortgage repayments. Labour said this would be cheaper for the State than if they lost their homes and were paid rent supplements for private accommodation.
Sinn Féin president Gerry Adams launched a billboard campaign in Dublin this afternoon calling for no more money to be put into the banks.
Mr Adams said Irish people are in “a fix” because of bad decisions taken by the Government and other parties. “We're also in a fix because of the way the big banks loaded their debts and encouraged the boom," Mr Adams said, adding that that part of the solution was for the EU and German "bankmeisters" to understand that Ireland cannot afford to pay.
Green leader John Gormley, Dublin North TD Trevor Sargent and Dublin South TD Eamon Ryan launched the party’s plans to make Ireland oil-free by 2030. They said that the keys to Ireland’s energy independence lay in increasing wind and ocean energy supply, electrifying transport, and retrofitting houses and office buildings.
Earlier, two opinion polls put Fine Gael on course to lead the next government and identified Mr Kenny as the public’s favourite to be the next taoiseach.
The latest Sunday Business Post poll suggests a majority government is within Fine Gael's reach. It puts Fine Gael on 39 per cent (+1), Labour on 17 per cent (-3), Fianna Fáil on 16 per cent (+1), Sinn Féin on 12 per cent (+2), the Green Party on 2 per cent (-1) and Independent candidates unchanged on 14 per cent.
A poll in the Sunday Independent this morning shows that 33 per cent think Mr Kenny would make the best taoiseach, compared to 28 per cent for Mr Martin and 24 for Mr Gilmore. More than half (51 per cent) of the respondents did not believe Labour and Fine Gael were compatible with regard to forming a coalition government.