The Labour Party will refuse to enter government following the upcoming general election without a commitment for increased spending on public services.
Party Leader, Mr Ruairí Quinn said he was more concerned with what the next Government was going to do rather than who was going to be in it.
Mr Quinn said under his party's plan, some €5 billion over five years earmarked for the National Pension Fund would be allocated to capital spending projects - primarily in the health sector.
He argued the running costs of these new hospitals and nursing homes would be off-set by the greater efficiencies created by swifter treatment for patients.
"If we want the sort of services people are telling me they need then we are going to have to pay for them," Mr Quinn said. He added that the country was capable of sustaining the spending required for such capital development.
Mr Quinn pointed to recent by-elections results as a basis for optimism ahead of the general election. He said Labour candidates had secured three out of six seats and predicted Labour would be the only large party returned with more than its current compliment of TDs.