Kenny 'getting on with job' but Quinn admits garda scandals have taken toll
Taoiseach Enda Kenny has insisted that the is unconcerned by the results of a new opinion poll published this morning which indicates a slump in support for Fine Gael.
Support for Mr Kenny's party dropped five percentage points to 25% in the Ipsos/MRBI poll published by the Irish Times, while the Taoiseach also saw his own personal popularity fall three points to 30%.
However speaking at the announcement in Dublin this morning of 100 new jobs for online accomodation booking firm Airbnb, Mr Kenny said he is "dealing with the reality of politics and life every day" and was not commenting on opinion polls.
Mr Kenny refused to comment on whether the controversies over the administration of justice were to blame for the drop in support, and insisted he was focused on just getting on with the job.
"We're driving on with the double mandate given to us," he said, "which was to sort out our finances and get our people back to work.
"Yesterday we announced 500 new jobs, today there are 100 here - at the end of our period in government, people will judge us on whether we have fulfilled that mandate."
However in separate comments, a cabinet colleague of Mr Kenny has admitted that the Governmen's handling of the garda tapes issue is behind their poor poll numbers.
Education Minister Ruairí Quinn, whose Labour party is down one point to just 8% in this morning's poll, said he is now concerned about his party's chances in the upcoming local and European elections.
He admitted that the the controversies surrounding the Department of Justice and An Garda Síochána are taking their toll.
"We haven't had a great couple of weeks to be honest with you," he said, before adding that he believed the Government had "finally got on top of it".
"Let's establish what all the facts are - there's been too much emergence of shall I say 'half fact' or incomplete facts, etc," he added.
