Fine Gael still intends to remove the Universal Social Charge if returned to government after the election, Taoiseach Enda Kenny has said, despite opposition to such a plan from International Monetary Fund staff.

IMF staff said in a new assessment of the Irish economy that its officials argued against more USC reductions when they met Government figures after the October budget.

They warned against further erosion of the tax base and said the USC had “played an essential role in restoring a sustainable revenue base”.

Asked in an interviewwith Today FM about the view of the IMF staff, Mr Kenny said the body was “entitled to its view” and to make that known.

However, he said his government would only act in a safe and prudent way.

Mr Kenny ruled out a Fine Gael coalition with Sinn Féin or Fianna Fáil after the next general election. He said he would be proposing the re-election of Fine Gael and Labour during the campaign.

The Taoiseach said Sinn Féin did not want to be in government and he saw no situation where Fianna Fáil should serve in government.

“I don’t see any circumstances where Fianna Fail should be in Government,” he said. “They drove this country off an economic cliff, they destroyed everything people had aimed for and people had ambitions for and suddenly come back with a series of populist illusions and the idea that you can have all these things for nothing.”

Asked about Sinn Féin, Mr Kenny said the party did not want to go into government.

“They do a lot of talking and there is a a lot of rhetoric over there. They have no intention of going into government,” he said.

Mr Kenny said he was asking the people to re-elect Fine Gael and Labour because they had a clear strategy which he believed was working.