The Taoiseach Bertie Ahern was upbeat this evening as he opened the Fianna Fáil ardfheis in Killarney despite recent polls which indicate that support for the Government is continuing to fall.
In his opening remarks to the Ard-Fheis, the first since last June's local and European elections in which the party fared badly, he said that Fianna Fáil was committed to a low tax policy, and pledged to complement a low tax environment with increased investment in skills, knowledge and innovation.
"It is not only tax on personal income that has been cut, so too has tax on business. . . the people know where I stand. They know where Fianna Fáil stands," he told the party faithful.
It is possible that this could be the party's last ardfheis before a general election although an election may be delayed until 2007.
While Fianna Fáil support increased modestly from the low point reached last June, according to the most recent Irish Timespoll carried out at the end of September, satisfaction with the Government and the Taoiseach fell significantly for the third poll running.
The poll showed that 58 per cent were dissatisfied with the Government, a rise of seven points since June and 16 points since January.
Tonight Mr Ahern pledged to use December's budget to put in place "the right incentives for growth combined with a fair distribution of both the burden and the benefit of public spending."
He defended the Common Agricultural policy in the WTO negotiations and said he was unwilling to sacrifice agriculture for the sake of agreement at any price.
Mr Ahern endorsed proposals to promote gender balance within the party and said that "for too long there have been too few women as party officers, candidates and public representatives".
Mr Ahern will give his keynote Presidential address to delegates tomorrow night.