The Tánaiste has stepped up her party's effort to return to power, attacking the "auction politics" of Fine Gael, the tax policies of Labour and "balaclava economics" of Sinn Féin.
While stressing that the PDs will fight the election as an independent party, Ms Harney last night confined her attacks to the Opposition parties. Speaking at the opening of her party's conference in Limerick she claimed credit for the PDs for this Government's "formula of low taxes and high incentives" and put her party's liberal economic policies at the centre of her political agenda.
The outcome of next summer's general election would have a huge impact on the direction of Irish economic policy, she said.
"The Progressive Democrats formula of low taxes and high incentives has worked extraordinarily well over the last five years," she said. It had created jobs, cut unemployment, helped end emigration and allowed for big social welfare increases. "It's a model that works and if it ain't broke, don't fix it."
While not specifically mentioning Fine Gael's recent promise to compensate Eircom shareholders who made losses she said: "It is disturbing and disappointing to see parties descending into auction politics and a cynical vote-buying campaign.
"This is the economic equivalent of reckless driving. It is an approach that landed us in trouble before and it will land us in trouble again."
Every promise made during the campaign would have to be paid for, "and ultimately it has to be paid for with the people's own money . . . We will not insult the intelligence of the electorate by trying to bribe them with their own money.
"I can give a categorical assurance that we in the Progressive Democrats have no intention of getting involved in auction politics at any time in the course of the general election campaign."
Referring to "our left-wing opponents", she said they had "moaned and whinged at every single tax cut we made. If our cuts were so wrong, why don't they have the courage of their convictions and say they'd reverse them? They're afraid to be specific, but one thing's for sure, they'll raise taxes if they get the chance."
In an apparent reference to Sinn Féin she said: "We don't need balaclava economics, destroying the country and holding the balance of power. We can also do without an Irish Soviet Socialist Republic."
She did not elaborate on the meaning of the term "balaclava economics".
The promises of the Opposition would put up public spending, and this would put up taxes. "Unemployment would go up as Irish workers were priced out of jobs by an irresponsible government," she said.
She pledged that her party would go into the general election as an independent party with independent policies. "We will seek to maximise our electoral support for those policies, and our aim is to participate in the formation of the next government.
"We will not enter into any coalition of convenience. We will enter government only with partners who are prepared to accept the thrust of our economic policies and accommodate those policies in an agreed programme for government."
Ms Harney's leadership address at the conference will be televised on RTE1 at 8.30 p.m. tonight. There will be extensive coverage of the conference in The Irish Times on Monday.