The Green Party chairman has said a snap election may have to be held in the next six months due to the difficulties of cleaning up the banking system and public finances.
Asked on Morning Ireland what the probability of an election in the next six months was, Dan Boyle said he thought it was '40:60'.
The next election would not normally be due until 2012.
However, Mr Boyle said: 'Getting to January is going to be a challenge.'
The comments were in reaction to the first political opinion poll of the autumn, which shows satisfaction with the Government down again.
Minister for Foreign Affairs Micheál Martin has acknowledged that the results of the poll were 'disappointing'.
But Mr Martin said the Government would not be deflected from doing what it had to do on the economy, the banks and the Lisbon Treaty.
He insisted the poll results did not raise questions about the leadership of the Taoiseach Brian Cowen.
Minister Martin also said that the public were making a distinction between the popularity of the Government and the need to pass the Lisbon Treaty.
Government chief whip Pat Carey said the poll results were not surprising given the economic crisis the country is facing.
However, he said the Government still had a mandate to govern, although he admitted the next three months would be even tougher for the Government.
He added: 'There is always the possibility of banana skins and accidents; that aside I believe the Government will get through this year and will continue till 2012.'
Government has lost mandate - Shatter
Also speaking on Morning Ireland, Fine Gael's Alan Shatter said the Government had lost its mandate.
The TNS/mrbi poll in today's Irish Times indicates that satisfaction with the Government's performance is down 1% to 11% since May, while 85% are dissatisfied and 4% are undecided.
When undecideds are excluded, the poll suggests support for Fianna Fáil is at 17%, down 3% since May.
Fine Gael is also down by 2% to 34%, which is exactly twice as much support as Fianna Fáil.
Labour is up 1% to 24%, putting it firmly in second place, while Sinn Féin has gained 2% to 10%.
The Green Party remains unchanged at 3%.
Independents and others are up 2% to 12%.
The Taoiseach's satisfaction rate has fallen 5% to just 15%.
29% of people polled are satisfied with Fine Gael's Enda Kenny, down 2% from the last poll, Labour's Eamon Gilmore is down two to 47% - the highest satisfaction rating of all the leaders.
Satisfaction with Green Party leader John Gormley is down 8% to 19%, while Sinn Féin's Gerry Adams has dropped 5% to 28%.
