The Fine Gael leader, Michael Noonan, has called on the Taoiseach to stop dithering and call the general election immediately. In his opening address to the party's Ard Fheis in Saggart, Mr Noonan said the government was incompetent and did not know where it was going.
In a speech greeting delegates, the party leader attacked what he said was the incompetence of the current Government, particularly in their handling of the public sector.
He committed Fine Gael to giving each State company a clear mandate, setting out what the government of the day wants it to do, and to ending the practice of appointing what he called "party cronies" to their boards. He said he would appeal to the best and the brightest in the private sector to volunteer their services to the State.
Earlier, Richard Bruton, the party's Director of Policy, said the government had repeated the worst development mistakes of other countries and warned that the values of the market place had become too dominant in the scramble for growth of the last five years.
The national conference continues tomorrow, when Michael Noonan's address will be carried live on RTÉ television, radio and online. The party says it will use the Ard Fheis as a springboard for the general election campaign, attacking the Government's record and setting out its policies for government.
Around 4,000 delegates are expected to gather in Saggart, County Dublin, for this weekend's Ard Fheis, with the countdown to the election well underway. Despite poor poll results, the party insists that it will hold the seats it has, and win a few more, to put it in a position to lead the next government.
This weekend's conference will focus on what Fine Gael calls "five wasted years" under the current coalition, as well as setting out the policies the party would pursue in office.
It is now just over a year since Michael Noonan became leader of Fine Gael, and this weekend will be his first full Ard Fheis, as last year's event was scaled down to a Dublin only conference due to foot and mouth.
