Taoiseach Brian Cowen says he does not expect cuts in the Government’s four-year economic plan to be more severe as a result of the discussions with the International Monetary Fund and European Union officials.
He said: “We have outlined its parameters already.”
The plan has already met “broad approval” from Economic and Monetary Affairs Commissioner Olli Rehn and others, he said.
Mr Cowen insisted discussions with the IMF and EU authorities were because Ireland had taken itself out of the money markets to prepare the four-year plan and to ensure access to funds in a way that was not at the prohibitive.
He said: “It’s important, given that we have a deficit that we are reducing over the next three or four years, that we have to make sure that we have access to the loan facilities that are necessary to make this planned change that will bring back prosperity and employment, we hope, to our people.”
“It’s because we are trying to protect the taxpayers’ interests that we are in these discussions and having to work through these issues,” he added.
Mr Cowen said the issue of Ireland’s low corporation tax had not been discussed at the talks and said taxation was a matter for the Government and that the country had “a very transparent tax rate” which was a corner-stone of Ireland’s industrial policy and an important part of its inward investment strategy.
His comments come as the latest Red C poll for the Sunday Business Post newspaper put support for Fianna Fáil at a record low of 17 per cent.
The poll suggested support for Fine Gael was up one to 33 per cent with Labour unchanged at 27 per cent, and the Greens down one at 3 per cent. Sinn Féin’s support was up two points to 11 per cent.