There would be a change of government if a general election was held tomorrow, the Labour Party claimed today, citing the latest Irish Times/MRBI poll.
The party's spokesperson on Environment and Local Government, Mr Eamon Gilmore, said the poll showed the electorate were looking for an alternative government.
"If an election were held tomorrow the Government parties would stand to lose 20 seats," said Mr Gilmore.
However the Taoiseach, Mr Ahern, said the poll showed people recognised the "difficult job" the Government had done in managing the economy through the global downturn.
"Obviously people like to know the Government knows what it's at. I think it's reflected that the people have seen we've managed things in difficult circumstances and that's heartening," said Mr Ahern.
Despite suffering a fall in its core support Fine Gael said it was happy with the 2 per cent increase in satisfaction with party leader, Mr Enda Kenny.
Sinn Féin TD, Mr Aengus O Snodaigh, said his party had done well in the poll 9 - 12 per cent of the national vote up from 6.5 in the General election - , particularly in working class areas of Dublin.
"The other larger haven't been able to match our enthusiasm. We're putting feet on the street and knocking on doors time and time again. We bring poitics to the people," Mr O Snodaigh told ireland.com.
The poll showed the state of the parties to be: Fianna Fáil 33 per cent, up 3 points since September; Fine Gael 21 per cent, down 1; Labour 17 per cent, down 2; Sinn Féin 12 per cent, up 2; Green Party 5 per cent, up 1; Progressive Democrats 3 per cent, down 2; Others 9 per cent, down 1.
The Labour leader, Mr Pat Rabbitte, retained a relatively high approval rating of 48 per cent, an increase of 5 per cent, with his dissatisfaction rating down 2 points at 25 per cent.
With Sinn Féin making gains, its president, Mr Gerry Adams, remains the party leader with the highest public approval.
Some 51 per cent of those polled said they were satisfied with his performance, up 8 points; 24 per cent were dissatisfied, down 6 with 25 per cent having no opinion.
The party will be further encouraged by the finding that it is attracting a level of support in Dublin similar to that of Fine Gael and Labour.
35 per cent said they were satisfied with the way the Green Party leader, Mr Trevor Sargent, was doing his job, up 5 points; 21 per cent are dissatisfied, down 2.