Taoiseach Brian Cowen insisted today the general election will be decided by an “informed” debate during the campaign itself on the steps needed to bring Ireland out of economic crisis.
Mr Cowen was responding to the latest Irish Times/Ipsos Mrbi opinion poll which shows support for Fianna Fáil has dropped seven points to a historic low of 17 per cent. The Taoiseach's own satisfaction ratings has fallen by five points to 14 per cent.
Mr Cowen, who is in Brussels for the meeting of the European Council, would not be drawn on his view on the figures themselves, which represent the lowest ever level support for his party, or for a Fianna Fáil leader.
“The opinion poll that counts at the end of the day – we all know it’s a well-worn phrase – is the one on the day of the election,” he said. “The sovereign will of the people will decide who governs the country. In the meantime, we have a very strong responsibility to implement the policies needed.”
The Taoiseach said most reliable indicators of his party’s standing would emerge during the election campaign, when a “considered and informed debate” would allow people to understand where each party stood on the issues surrounding the country’s economic and fiscal situation.
In reference to Fine Gael and Labour – a combination which he said was the only realistic alternative government – he said it was necessary to find out in advance of the election what their joint plan was for recovering the economy.
“I don’t think it right that it should be deferred until afterwards. We are in a very serious situation for this country. We have put all our cards on the table,” he said.
He claimed there is an inherent contradiction between Fine Gael and Labour approaches to bringing the Government’s deficit down to 3 per cent of national income by 2014 .
“We have a situation that the opposition say that in 2011 if they are in power, Fine Gael would not raise income tax and labour would not cut welfare. You can’t do that with those types of policies,” he said.
Mr Cowen said the latest data, which showed strong growth in exports, as well as improvements in both GNP and GDP, reflected a situation where the the economy was on the road to recovery.
Asked was the situation facing him and his party “unrecoverable” in the light of such low support figures, Mr Cowen replied: “I am not in the punditry business. I am in the business of doing my job to the very best of my ability, in the public interest.”