The Fine Gael leader, Mr Michael Noonan, has offered a series of pledges to attract young voters, as the party tried to broaden the election agenda beyond the economy.
Launching a youth policy document yesterday, Mr Noonan said the disengagement of young people from politics would "set a time-bomb ticking under the fabric of our society". The democratic system could not survive the growing disenchantment and society would end up as "a market of consumers, rather than having people treated as citizens of a republic".
He promised state assistance to young people saving for a deposit on a house, a €400 grant for first-time drivers against their insurance costs, a doubling of higher education grants and measures to make the streets safer for the young.
He also said he would hold all elections at weekends to try to maximize the youth vote, tax relief for rent, a hard line on drugs and a campaign to change the State's drinking culture.
The assistance for young first-time buyers would give them €1 for every €3 saved over two years towards a house. The maximum sum available would be set after consultation with the financial institutions about the amount required by couples for a deposit on a first house.
At a press conference in Dublin Mr Noonan said many younger people now felt the political system was no longer responsive to their needs, after "the deluge of revelations of low standards from the tribunals.
"The streets have become dangerous to walk in at night. Any government that cannot keep the streets safe is not worthy of being called a government," he said.
He said he was offering voters "a clear choice between an Ireland that is short-sighted, selfish, unfair and inward-looking and an Ireland that is forward looking, compassionate and generous. It's a choice between a philosophy which says that money is all that counts and one that puts money in the wider context of quality of life."
He challenged the Taoiseach, Mr Ahern, to debate "real issues" rather than concentrate on economic figures. "Stop running away from issues," he said. "Your job is not as a mechanic fine-tuning the economy with a torque wrench and a screwdriver."
He said Fianna Fáil was in no position to criticise others about economic prudence, having increased public spending by over 40 per cent in two years. "They turned a surplus into a deficit faster than Mandrake the magician. If it happened in a Third World country the first speculation would be that it had gone into a numbered account in a Swiss bank."
Mr Noonan said: "Let's have a real election, where people get a choice to vote on issues that affect their lives."