The election campaign intensified sharply yesterday following bitter divisions between the Government and Fine Gael and Labour over economic policy and alleged gaps in spending plans, writes Mark Hennessy, Political Correspondent.
The campaign is likely to heat up further today in advance of this week's crucial live television debate between Taoiseach Bertie Ahern and Fine Gael leader Enda Kenny on Thursday.
Leading the Fianna Fáil attack yesterday, Minister for Finance Brian Cowen said Fine Gael and Labour had spent some of their planned spending "two or three times over so far in the campaign".
In advance of the election campaign, Fine Gael and Labour agreed on €2 billion worth of extra spending, but each had outlined their own preferences for €2.9 billion more since, he said.
"They told us that we were going to have a balanced budget. They can't if you are going to have all this. So what falls off the table? Or maybe we are going to have higher taxes?" Mr Cowen claimed.
However, Fine Gael and Labour retaliated quickly, saying they had 40 per cent of their spending already agreed, whereas Fianna Fáil had no post-election deal in place.
The sparring comes as the latest Irish Independent/IMS opinion poll shows support for Fianna Fáil has fallen by three points, to 35 per cent over three weeks. Support for Fine Gael has risen by three points to 26 per cent, while Labour has gone up one point to 13 per cent.
The Progressive Democrats have fallen one point to 3 per cent, while the Greens stand at 5 per cent, down one point. Sinn Féin are at 10 per cent, up two points, while Independents feature with 8 per cent.
Meanwhile, it has emerged that Fine Gael/Labour spending figures do make provision for increases in overseas development aid, despite repeated claims to the contrary by Fianna Fáil.
The figures used by the Opposition are taken from the Department of Finance's baseline projections for this year, 2008 and 2009, the department confirmed yesterday.
Fianna Fáil will insist on financial stability in post-election talks, Mr Cowen said: "That will be the Fianna Fáil position and insistence. It is the bedrock on which prosperity is built."
He ridiculed plans by Labour Party leader Pat Rabbitte to pay for the reform to stamp duty by looking "into the bottom drawer of a desk in the Department of Finance".
Fianna Fáil's stamp duty reforms, focused on first-time buyers only, would cost €44 million and would stabilise the housing market at one-fifth of the cost proposed by the Opposition, he said.
Fine Gael has rejected Mr Cowen's claim that its plan to supply 2,300 public hospital beds could not be financed out of the National Development Plan without other priorities falling off.
"We have said that public beds are one of our priorities. We will decide what to do with the NDP in a few weeks time, not Fianna Fáil," its spokesman added.
Meanwhile, the focus of the election campaign will turn briefly today to Westminster, where Taoiseach Bertie Ahern will address a joint sitting of the House of Lords and the House of Commons.
Mr Kenny will attend the event at the invitation of the Taoiseach, although invitations to other party leaders were not taken up.
Meanwhile, the Taoiseach, who faced questions about his personal finances on Today FM's The Last Word, has insisted he has always been up to date with his taxes.
"I don't believe that I am anything other than tax-compliant and always have been in my life," he said, referring to a payment made after last September's controversy to the Revenue Commissioners.
Despite Labour warning that it would scrap any contracts signed for private hospitals on public hospital grounds, Mr Ahern and Mr Cowen expressed their support for the project. Asked whether co-location would survive a coalition with any party other than the PDs, Mr Cowen said it was a policy Fianna Fáil wanted to see implemented.