Election 2016: Enda Kenny expected election to be a ‘dog fight’

Taoiseach Enda Kenny has said he is not concerned about polls showing a drop in support for his Fine Gael party, insisting he was always expecting a general election "dog fight".

Amid concern in his party over its failure to pick up momentum as the campaign has gone on, Mr Kenny has said he we would prefer a coalition rather than a single party to be in government after the election.

His comment came as Ministers for Health Leo Varadkar admitted Fine Gael may not be the largest party after the election on February 26th.

Following successive polls showing a declining support for Fine Gael, Mr Kenny appeared to acknowledge that his party would not secure an overall majority. He said single party governments tended to involve people “taken up with their own authority”.

The Taoiseach insisted he was not concerned about Fine Gael's slump in the polls, the latest of which from Red C for the Irish Sun showed Fine Gael down two points to 26 per cent over the week since the company's previous survey.

“This was always going to be a dog fight. Did anyone think this was going to be a cakewalk or a doddle? I didn’t,”he said.

Mr Kenny said the choice faced by voters on February 26th was between stability and chaos. The Taoiseach said he was well aware the economic recovery had not been felt by everyone.

Asked about entering coalition with Fianna Fáil, Mr Kenny said he was "not going there. I have already ruled that out. Fianna Fáil has not learned lessons".

USC

The Taoiseach reiterated his commitment to abolishing the Universal Social Charge despite warnings about shrinking the tax base. He said he respected the opinion of the Irish Fiscal Council, which has cautioned against the move, but noted it was the job of politicians to make decisions.

Mr Kenny denied Fine Gael would have made the same mistakes as Fianna Fáil considering his party was proposing tax cuts and higher spending in its 2007 manifesto, saying he was given a bankrupt country in 2011 and managed to turn the recovery around.

The Taoiseach was also asked about his position on repealing the Eighth amendment and insisted there was no point having a referendum without consensus on what would replace it.

Speaking later on RTÉ News at One, Fianna Fáil leader Micheal Martin said polls needed to be treated with care and should not take over election discussions.

“I do not accept the opinion polls maybe correct in terms of what will actually happen,” he said. “We should not overly predict what the Irish people may do on Friday the 26th.”

Direction

Mr Martin said he did not accept the only prospect of government after the election may be a coalition between his party and Fine Gael.

“We’re not ruling ourselves out of government. We can influence a change of direction. The majority of people want a change of government.”

Mr Martin said there were a lot of “sensible” candidates running for election that he would be happy to work with.

Minister for Health Leo Varadkar had earlier admitted that Fine Gael may not be the largest party after the election. “It is an election, the election is competitive. I think certainly it was never the case in Fine Gael but there was an assumption by people in the media that no matter what would happen Fine Gael would emerge as the largest party. That might not be the case,” Mr Varadkar said.

He said the economic policies being put forward by Fine Gael were the most realistic of all and took account of the need to set aside reserves of €2.5 billion.

Mr Varadkar said he was concerned by elements of the election campaign had gone.

“Because there is a sense out there that the economy is safe for the next five years and just going to get better no matter who is in power, and that’s not true, we can fall backwards. There are real risks out there.”

‘Second term’

On health, the Minister said he totally accepted “we did not deliver on our promises and that is one of the reasons we want a second term”. He said the Government had done “a reasonably good job to date” and now wanted to do more.

Asked why he had launched a strong personal attack on Fianna Fáil leader Micheál Martin, Mr Varadkar said: “Micheál Martin is a good debater but an even better deceiver. He told quite a number of untruths in the debate on Monday night”.

He likened Mr Martin to the Arnold Schwarzenegger character in the film Total Recall who had alternative memories planted in his brain.

Mr Varadkar was asked to clarify the number of primary care health centres opened since the Government came to power in light of figures of 47, 60 and 90 being stated at various times by Tánaiste Joan Burton.

Mr Varadkar said: “I will have to check that, runs roughly at one a month, it wouldn’t be far off 80, but I will have to check that”.

Mr Martin said the criticisms from Mr Varadkar were a “sad reflection on Leo”.

He said it was also an “illustration or the panic and disarray within Government circles that they have to resort to personal attacks on the record of someone who was appointed as a Minister of Health 16 years ago”.

“We’re actually asking the Irish people to vote on the next Government from 2016 to 2021,” Mr Martin said, adding that Mr Varadkar was referring to a period between 2000 and 2004.