Lenihan: Govt has a job to finish
Finance Minister Brian Lenihan today insisted the Government had a mandate to see out its full term in office, saying they have a job to finish.
Minister Lenihan's comments come as Opposition parties ramp up pressure on Fianna Fáil and the Green following a series of dismal poll results for the coalition.
"Opinion polls don't decide the mandate of the Government," Mr Lenihan said. "The mandate of the Government comes from the Dáil."
The latest poll published in today's Irish Times indicates that almost six out of 10 voters - 57% - want to see a general election by year's end.
Meanwhile the personal approval rating of Taoiseach Brian Cowen continues to take a battering with just 21% of poll respondents wishing to see him returned as the leader of the country.
Mr Cowen was this weekend gearing up for a defence of his leadership as the Dáil is to debate on Tuesday a motion of confidence tabled by Fine Gael.
The Government has vowed to robustly fight the motion, prompted by the publication last week of two key reports into the banking crisis which pointed the finger of blame partly at decisions made by Mr Cowen when he was finance minister.
Today however Minister Lenihan insisted that one of the reports - by international banking experts Klaus Regling and Max Watson - had championed the economic course currently being steered by the Government, saying decisions taken to deal with the crisis had been the right ones.
"As far as we are concerned, what we are doing is for the national good - that has now been confirmed by a very authoritative international expert," he said.
The Finance Minister also said an early general election would be a "distraction" from the essential business of recovery.
