The Taoiseach today dismissed Opposition claims that the Government intends to try to "buy" the next election with a giveaway Budget.
A newspaper opinion poll published yesterday showed increasing support for an alternative Rainbow coalition of Opposition parties.
Mr Ahern, speaking before a Cabinet meeting in Avondale, Co Wicklow, claimed Fine Gael and Labour had doubled the national debt while in power.
"I have spent a large part of my political life working on social partnerships and turning the finances of the country around," he said.
"We are the Government and the party which has got the country to this position of controlled public finances from a position of uncontrolled public finances. I'll take no lectures from a party that managed to double the national debt."
Minister for Arts, Sports and Tourism John O'Donoghue said he was confident that the performance of the Government parties in opinion polls would improve when individual policies are compared.
"We haven't done at all badly and it's all to play for. Their [the Opposition's] show, so to speak, is still off Broadway, and we haven't seen any policies from Pat Rabbitte, Enda Kenny and Trevor Sargent that would put bread on the table or heat in the house.
"When we see the policies and compare them, I can assure you there will be a big difference when the curtain comes up," he said.
PA