Fianna Fáil will target the “very significant” number of undecided voters in the final few days of the election campaign, party leader Micheál Martin said today.
Citing this week's Irish Times/Ipsos poll which puts undecided voters at 19 per cent, Mr Martin said: "Obviously we are targeting and focusing on that 20 per cent. And clearly that 20 per cent are anxious to seek further information in relation to issues and ideas and policies."
He noted some 30 per cent of voters polled had indicated they may still change their minds on who to vote for.
“There’s a substantial amount to be fought for and to be targeted in the coming days and that’s where our focus will be.”
Mr Martin was speaking at RTÉ following an appearance on the Today with Pat Kenny programme, during which he answered questions from listeners. He said he was looking forward to tonight's debate, where he hoped there would be a "greater fleshing-out of the issues" and a greater discussion of the detail behind the policy programmes of the main political parties.
“I think there has been too much ducking and diving around the detail of some of the policies of the parties, particularly the Fine Gael party, where it’s been more soundbite than substance up to now," he said. "I admit it’s late in the day in the campaign, but we do have an opportunity to flesh out that kind of detail.”
When it was put to Mr Martin that it had been said he himself had been “ducking and diving” throughout the campaign in relation to his own record, he said the “opposite” was the case.
“I’ve stood over my record in all of the departments, whether it was in education, health , enterprise or foreign affairs. I have left something behind in all of those that have improved the quality of life of people, from special needs education to the smoking ban, right through to the second referendum on Lisbon and indeed the Global Irish Economic Forum that I started in foreign affairs.”
Addressing the issue of the teaching post that remains open for him after his 22 years in the Dáil, Mr Martin said he would not return to teaching and he said he had chosen not to accrue a pension from that job.
“There’s nothing in it for me. I will not be going back teaching if I lose my seat or in the future," he said. “I have decided to fight the election. I could have walked off the pitch if I wanted to but I don’t. I’m interested in public life and I’m committed to public life and that’s why I’m running in this election. I want to do what I can in the best interests of the country for the future.”
Mr Martin said if he were to resign his teaching post now “a person would lose their job”. He would wait until the end of the academic year in order to do this, he indicated.
The Fianna Fáil leader said there should be a single, continuing pension for those in the public service, which would transfer with them if they changed job. But there should be a timeframe for those elected as TDs after which “the safety net goes”, because people also needed to be encouraged to go into politics.
Among those who asked questions of him on the radio programme were a self-employed businessman and a taxi driver. The taxi driver said the U-turn announced yesterday on the rule that cars used as taxis must be no older than nine years, “smacks of vote-grabbing” four days before the election.
Speaking to reporters after the broadcast, Mr Martin said he was pleased to have had the opportunity to listen to the issues people had.