The current strong standing of Independents in the latest Irish Times/MRBI poll will eventually benefit the Labour Party, its leader, Mr Ruairí Quinn, has said.
The declaration came as Labour launched a six-point pledge card, promising to improve the health system, education, childcare, housing and carers' conditions over a Dáil term.
In addition, Mr Quinn said Labour will demand that welfare payments are linked to wage increases, and not to inflation, as part of its price in coalition talks.
Eleven per cent of respondents say they support Independents over representatives from the political parties, while one in five are in the "don't know" category.
"In many constituencies, there will be no Independents at all. We are taking this as an indication that they are dissatisfied with the sleaze of conventional politics arising from the tribunals.
"In those set of circumstances I am quite confident that Labour will come back with a larger parliamentary party after the election," said Mr Quinn.
Explaining the six promises, he said: "They will form the platform for Labour's negotiating position in any post-election scenario. They represent our bottom line. We will not participate in a government not committed to achieving them."
The targets are ambitious and costly, he acknowledged. Extra education spending will cost €625 million, childcare €740 million, welfare payments €320 million, the abolition of the means test for carers €150 million.
Housing promises will cost approximately double the Government's current allocation, while health, as already announced, will cost €13 billion over 10 years.
"If we do not get the resources, then Labour will not be in government. All my political life, I have been told that my ideas are lovely but that the country cannot afford them. That lie doesn't hold any more. We are now the eighth richest country in the world."
Labour's plans "seek to build from our successful economy, a successful and supportive society. They are definitely more Berlin than Boston. It is time for this country to change direction. The last five years have seen those of public spirit and those advocating public services sneered at by the PD triumvirate of McCreevy, Harney and McDowell at the heart of this Government. The Taoiseach looked on as a hapless onlooker.
"Consider the legacy of this administration. They inherited the most positive Exchequer figures of any administration and will leave with the highest projected deficits in years.
"This Government has simply been a disaster. The personal popularity of an amiable Taoiseach hides a legacy of corporate failure unprecedented in recent years."
The package can be afforded without extra taxation, though he conceded there would be "limited scope for additional tax cuts".
"Under this Government those who needed it least benefited most from taxation policy. Those days are over." Mr Quinn insisted the plans could be afforded without extra taxation, because, he believed, economic growth would deliver an extra €3 billion annually to the Exchequer.
The pledge card is an idea borrowed from British Prime Minister Mr Tony Blair and German Chancellor Mr Gerhard Schröder: "It has proved to be a very useful way of communicating a message."
