The Opposition is failing to capitalise on the difficulties the Government is "undoubtedly having", Minister for Defence Willie O'Dea has said.
Speaking following a new Sunday Business Post/Red C poll, Mr O'Dea acknowledged that the Government has had "a troubled time" following the statutory rape crisis, the death of Charles Haughey, internal difficulties within the Progressive Democrats and signs of "disaffection" among Fianna Fáil backbenchers.
"Despite the problems that the Government are undoubtedly having, the two opposition parties who aspire to be in government don't seem to be making significant progress either,"
Defending the Government's performance, Mr O'Dea said: "No government is perfect, and all governments make mistakes, and we have made mistakes as a party and a Government. But a lot of the events that have happened in recent times have not been of our making but have managed to reflect badly on the Government because of the way they were presented, or because of the way the public perceives them. That is something that is beyond the control of any government."
In the Sunday Business Post's latest monthly tracking poll, Fianna Fáil has dropped by one percentage point to 34 percentage points, while Fine Gael has stayed steady at 26 percentage points.
Labour has dropped two percentage points to 12 percentage points. Sinn Féin stands on 9 percentage points, the Green Party on 7 percentage points, while the Progressive Democrats register at 3 percentage points.
Mr O'Dea said the death of Mr Haughey hurt FF's fortunes.
"Regardless of what the public says about his legacy, I still think that the net effect of the publicity surrounding the Haughey funeral was by and large negative for the Government."
The crisis caused by the Supreme Court's statutory rape judgment last month caused "quite a big impact, quite unfairly, I might add. Fairly, or unfairly in politics, truth is only an occasional trespasser."
He rejected the criticism that the Government could have been prepared for the Supreme Court's decision to strike down 70-year-old statutory rape legislation that did not allow the accused to argue that they did not know the age of a minor.
"A lot of the feedback that I got was: 'Why were you not ready for this?' - as if you can have countless statutory responses ready and you just push the button depending on the Supreme Court's decision and that it will come up like a slice of toast."
However, he said the Progressive Democrats' leadership difficulties and the push by 16 Fianna Fáil backbenchers for a greater influence in policy had "on the surface" had "very little" impact on the Government's fortunes.
"Things like that do tend to inhibit recovery. It takes the focus off policy. It takes the focus off the economy where the Government has done very well when the public are reading about internal splits and FF backbenchers' disaffection."
He said Fianna Fáil would spend the summer working on manifesto policies, and attracting new members.
"The public can get bored with TV shows, soap operas, the same people being in office, but I think, nevertheless, that they have not begun to think deeply about the election, and they won't make up their minds until half-way through the campaign."
