TAOISEACH BRIAN Cowen is expected to make a "state of the nation" style speech in September setting out his approach to dealing with the economic downturn.
The Irish Times understands from a senior source in Government that the address may be made around the time of Fianna Fáil's two-day parliamentary party "think-in" in Galway, which begins on September 15th.
The source, who is close to Mr Cowen, said he had been criticised for not making such a speech upon becoming Taoiseach.
"One thing that is not credited is that it takes a little time for a new taoiseach to come to grips with the job and also to decide on a political philosophy pertaining to it," said the source.
"That is what is happening now. He will make a state-of-the-nation address in September telling us where things are and what his prognosis is."
It is not known what form the address will take. However, a number of senior figures in Government said that - knowing Mr Cowen's style - it was likely to be relatively low-key in format.
They said it was unlikely to take the form of the live televised speech made by Charles Haughey in 1980 a month after he became taoiseach.
In that address, Mr Haughey said Ireland as a nation was living beyond its means.
Instead, Mr Cowen's speech could take the form of that which he delivered at the Indecon conference at the Royal Irish Academy in November 2007.
There, Mr Cowen, then minister for finance, laid out his priorities for moderation in public spending, increased productivity in the Irish economy and equality in Irish society.
Mr Cowen approaches his 100th day in office next Thursday having endured a difficult period since becoming Taoiseach.
In addition to the defeat of the Lisbon Treaty referendum, the economic downturn and the projected €4.5 billion shortfall in tax revenue has forced the Government to announce a package of cost-cutting measures, and to revise its borrowing requirements upwards by €3 billion.
Mr Cowen, who is on holidays until tomorrow, has also faced criticism from some quarters for not personally intervening before the breakdown last weekend of the national pay talks involving the social partners.
The Government source said that it was never Mr Cowen's intention to set out his priorities as Taoiseach until he had had time to make a full assessment. "There has been a lot of criticism of him not doing it sooner. But he wanted to see how things would pan out," said the source.
The Taoiseach's decision not to intervene in the pay talks was also the correct choice, maintained the source.
"My view is that in terms of those, he showed strength in that he was prepared to walk away and let it flounder.
"It may manifest itself now as a reality check for all the parties involved. People's expectations will have to be tempered.
"In August, he wants them all to reflect on the realities of life. He will be asking them to give leadership to whom they represent, in terms of what we want to do and how we can achieve it."
