Labour leader Mr Ruairi Quinn has criticised the Government over the state of public services and said Ireland had a choice to make about its future direction as a society. The next election would provide that opportunity.

At the Small Firms' Association (SFA) annual conference, Mr Quinn said the state of Ireland's health services and their deeply unequal nature were increasingly difficult to justify in a prosperous economy.

The education system remained hugely under-funded, and the chaos of the public transport system and expensive planning inertia were undermining Ireland's capacity to grow as a cohesive society.

"Where is the Government's spatial plan?" he asked, while addressing 300 delegates attending the conference in Dublin Castle yesterday.

"The real charge against this Government is that it has not been ambitious enough about its plans for the country, or provided the leadership to achieve what limited plans it has," Mr Quinn said.

Governments could contribute significantly to the sustainable growth of the economy by bringing certainty to the marketplace. A clear taxation and regulatory policy, discussed with the social partners and implemented in an orderly and agreed manner, was one component of such certainty.

A comprehensive investment programme to deliver public services that were efficiently managed and on budget was the other.

"The Government is failing on both fronts," he stressed.

Mr Quinn said the forthcoming election would see a contest between the parties prepared to invest in the future and the parties who pursued large tax cuts. "I don't think it takes a genius to work out which is best for the economy," he said.

If Fianna Fail and Fine Gael sought to present themselves as all things to all people and were allowed to get away with it, we would all be the worse off for it, he said.