Labour Party leader Pat Rabbitte repeated yesterday that he won't go into coalition with Fianna Fáil after the next election, saying he was still confident Fine Gael and Labour could form the next government.
Mr Rabbitte said the country needed a change and asked how Labour could put Fianna Fáil ministers who had neglected so many issues back into government.
What was needed was a government that would address some of the issues which the present Government had failed to act upon, he said, and a government that would end the waste of taxpayers' money and use public money to improve delivery of public services.
The Labour leader said he would determine whether the circumstances were right for his party to go into government following the next general election.
He did not directly answer when asked whether he would remain on as leader of Labour if it decided to go into government with Fianna Fáil in the absence of other options, saying the party could not decide to go into government without a motion to its annual conference from its leader.
He said he had "no intention" of putting forward such a motion, unless the circumstances were right. He believed Fine Gael and Labour would be able to form the next government, and said he was greatly encouraged by findings in the Sunday Tribune poll yesterday which showed an increase in support for both parties.
Speaking on RTÉ Radio One's This Week programme, he said there was a "world of difference" on the key issues between his party and the Progressive Democrats.
"The PDs is a party founded on the belief that inequality is necessary to make our society work and I believe the opposite. That's a fundamental ideological divergence."
In government he said Labour would not change corporation tax which is currently at 12.5 per cent and he said there would be no need to increase personal tax rates. He said the party would tackle inequality in Irish society and educational disadvantage and would try to ensure that people could afford a home.
Mr Rabbitte said the Government had been spending "like a drunken sailor" but the country was getting very bad value for their money. The Government, he added, had a whole string of projects where they had wasted taxpayers' money and he singled out Ministers Micheál Martin, Martin Cullen and Dick Roche as those who had wasted money.
n Taoiseach Bertie Ahern seems to be in strong position to win a third term as Taoiseach, although Fine Gael and Labour have recorded gains, according to an opinion poll published at the weekend.
The poll showed the FF-PD Coalition at 44 per cent, a two-point decline since since a previous poll last October, while the combined FG-Labour-Green Party vote was 39 per cent, an increase of three points.
The Sunday Tribune poll had Fianna Fáil on 39 per cent, down three points; Fine Gael at 22 per cent, up two points; Labour at 12 per cent, up two points; the PDs at 5 per cent, up one; Green Party at 5 per cent, down one; Sinn Féin at 7 per cent, down one and Independents/others unchanged at 10 per cent.