Opening speech: Taoiseach Bertie Ahern has accused Fine Gael and Labour of being "the most negative Opposition in recent history".
In his opening speech to TDs and Senators attending the two-day Fianna Fáil parliamentary party meeting in Westport, he again accused Fine Gael and Labour of failing to provide detailed costed programmes for any of the main spending areas.
In his strongest attack on the Opposition in recent times, Mr Ahern attempted to portray the possible alternative coalition parties as being devoid of detailed policies.
"That is the core of what the election will be about," he said. "It will be a contest between a Government that is prepared to make policy choices, set prudent budgets and keep Irish taxes low, and the alternative government, which offers instant solutions, which is resolutely irresolute, decisively indecisive and fulsomely empty.
"How can they even pretend to power when they refuse to cost their commitments or to explain how they will be met."
He said that at the end "it all comes down to trust" and who the electorate believed would protect economic prosperity.
He claimed that Labour and Fine Gael "have been acting as if they somehow have a right to be in government. "As far as I am concerned they can keep this up if they want to - because I have no doubt that the Irish people will see through the calculated cynicism of the most negative Opposition in recent history."
Earlier, speaking to journalists before he went into the conference yesterday morning, Mr Ahern dismissed suggestions that the Government is preparing a giveaway December budget in advance of the next general election.
He described any such claims as "just a bit of Opposition nonsense because they have no policies. We want to continue with the prudent, sensible management that we have had in this country for a long way back, probably for the last 20 years, certainly under my reign for the last 10. We will do nothing to damage the long-term prospects of the country."
Mr Ahern also said that back-bench TDs' suggestions would be included in Fianna Fáil's new policy proposals in the run-up to the general election next year.
"It has proved very useful in the preparation of our plans for the future. Their combined advice is very helpful and has always been helpful in terms of formulating policies," he said.
He added: "There's a great resource within the backbenchers of dealing with communities up and down the country, with business, with agriculture, of dealing with trade union movements, and they bring their own different perspectives to issues.
"It's very important that you get that from every part of the country. We're lucky in Fianna Fáil that we have representatives from every part of the country, from every sector in the country."
Mr Ahern also defended the rising cost of the proposed second terminal for Dublin airport, saying the rise to an estimated €395 million was because of the increase in the size of the project to meet demand.
"When I was made Taoiseach there were nine million people going through Dublin airport. Last year it was 17 million, up until 17th of August it was 17½ million. You have to build it bigger. So there are pressures on us all the time to change our policies, to make it better and more successful and we're doing that."
Mr Ahern also said he had not considered the possibility of him not being Taoiseach if his party loses the election. "The only thought that grabs me is to keep developing policies, to keep this country economically strong, sustainably strong. You know, what happens in the future is not something that I care about personally. It's to keep this country strong and to do my best to make sure to maximise the vote for my party when the election comes."