The last televised leaders’ debate on RTÉ, involving Labour's Eamon Gilmore, Fine Gael's Enda Kenny and Fianna Fáil's Micheál Martin has begun.
The EU/IMF deal was first on the agenda. Eamon Gilmore said the plan had put a straight jacket on any future government which will drive down economy. Micheál Martin insisted the deal could not be renegotiated unilaterally, saying he would employ "intelligent diplomacy" to secure a better deal.
Mr Kenny said Mr Martin was a member of a Government who could not tell the truth about the deal.
The debate is expected to move on to the pensions issue, the public finances and political reform.
Meanwhile, as the election campaign moved into its final three days, the main parties focused on youth unemployment and children.
Fine Gael has pledged to introduce a series of measures to support recovery in the jobs market within 100 days if elected.
Fine Gael’s finance spokesman Michael Noonan said his party intended to introduce a jobs creation bill by July if elected, which would see a lowering of the 13.5 per cent VAT rate to 12 per cent, and the 8.5 per cent rate of PRSI cut in half.
The bill would abolish the controversial travel tax and exempt from VAT, service companies that export 90 per cent of their output.
The proposed Fine Gael bill would also seek to establish 5,000 national graduate internship places, and to re-allocate funds in the National Pension Reserve Fund to restructure and recapitalise streamlined semi-state companies.
“The total cost of these initial measures will be €338 million in 2011,” Mr Noonan said at the launch of Young Fine Gael’s youth manifesto in Dublin today. Fine Gael said the plan would be part-funded by bringing forward a 0.5 per cent levy on pension funds.
Meanwhile, Mr Gilmore said his party had been consistent in calling for the renegotiation of EU-IMF deal. However, he said the extent to which banks had to be recapitalised and restructured would depend on forthcoming stress tests.
The Fianna Fáil leader said this morning his party would target the “very significant” number of undecided voters in the final few days of the election campaign.
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 and for a "greater fleshing-out" of the policy issues. He also accused Fine Gael of "more soundbite than substance" in its campaign.
With Labour continuing to perform poorly in the polls, Mr Gilmore will be hoping to turn the tide in tonight's debate. He too warned against presuming the outcome of the election, claiming up to a third of the electorate remains undecided or open to switching support. "There are some people who have written the script as if this election is already over and the winners are declared and so on. This election does not finish until 10pm on Friday evening," he said during campaigning in Dublin.
In its children's manifesto, published today, Labour pledged paternity leave and a legal right to a career break for
parents. It said parents would be able to share paid time off after the birth of a child. It also promised not to cut child benefit, and to urgently hold the children's rights referendum.
Sinn Féin today claimed the three main parties were united in their support for "savage" cuts in public services. Unveiling the party's latest billboard campaign, the party's Dublin Central candidate Mary Lou McDonald highlighted what she described as "the consensus for cuts".
Earlier, party leader Gerry Adams told RTÉ Radio's Morning Ireland that establishment politicians were "debating between themselves about their fat pensions" while the economy is "going down the tubes".
Green Party TD for Carlow/Kilkenny Mary White urged people to punish the parties who caused the housing bubble and economic crash. Speaking on the campaign trail this morning, she said: “As voters make up their minds, it is important we all remember the causes of Ireland’s current economic woes and the toxic triangle of developers, banks and reckless politicians who allowed the re-zoning and development of land for houses we didn’t need.”
The Green Party is today running an online question and answer session with the electorate on its website.
The United Left Alliance (ULA) said today cohesive opposition to welfare and spending cuts will only come from a strong left-wing presence in the Dáil.
The alliance the three largest parties were all signed up to an agenda of "savage" spending cuts in order to bail out the banks. Any apparent disagreement between Fine Gael, the Labour Party and Fianna Fáil was an "illusion", said ULA candidate in Dublin West, Joe Higgins.