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Live Updates:
1950 New blog post from Political Correspondent David McCullagh where he says that even before a vote is cast, Irish politics has changed fundamentally.
1626 Fine Gael’s fiscal plans make it clear their intention to stick to Fianna Fáil’s failed economic policies, according to Labour’s Finance Spokesperson Joan Burton.
1620 Fine Gael's Finance Spokesperson Michael Noonan has called on Fianna Fáil to say who approved the bank capitalisation pause, as he believes it to be against EU/IMF terms.
1612 Fine Gael's fiscal policies might be popular but will not help economic recovery, Mr Lenihan insists. The press conference has now ended.
1609 The United Left Alliance launched its manifesto today.
Commenting on Ireland's financial crisis, MEP Joe Higgins said: 'Let us be clear, even if we turn ourselves into slaves this debt cannot be paid.
'Growth will at best be 1% this year according to estimates and no headway will be made in the debt given the interest rate that goes with it.'
View some comments from the press conference.
1607 Mr Lenihan questions the bank loss figure of €100bn given by Anglo Chairman Alan Dukes, saying he does not have access to the information from Bank of Ireland & AIB.
1559 Labour is promising free GP visits for all. Mr Lenihan says he fails to see how the Exchequer can pay for these services.
1557 Mr Lenihan says if other finance spokespeople write to him to show support for the recapitalisation of the banks, he will continue cash injections.
1554 The freeze on injecting money into banks had nothing to do with their capital requirements - Lenihan.
1551 The IMF and EU expressed 'complete understanding' with the Government's decision to delay the €10bn recapitalisation of the banks, according to Brian Lenihan. He added that the Government did not have the authority to push on with the recapitalisation.
1547 The Minister ends his address by apologising for the press conference starting late.
1546 Mr Lenihan reiterates that an increase in VAT would be 'lethal', and should not be contemplated by the next Finance Minister.
1545 Fine Gael is seeking to protect higher earners while taking money from pension funds, which will have an impact on everyone, according to Mr Lenihan. He also says that FG's civil servant cuts will have an impact on frontline services.
1540 Mr Lenihan says Fianna Fáil's plan will 'widen the tax net' to bring more earners into the system. He adds that the most questionable aspect of Fine Gael's fiscal plan is to increase the higher rate of VAT to 22% in the next Budget.
1530 The heavy lifting in terms of balancing the Budget has already been done by FF, according to Brian Lenihan. He says the party proposes to have two-thirds of the remaining adjustments to be on the expenditure side with on third coming from taxation.
1522 Fianna Fáil to hold its news conference shortly
1305 Claims by Fine Gael that the Labour is a high-tax party have been rejected by Eamon Gilmore.
Mr Gilmore said Labour had promised not to increase incomes tax for those earning less than €100,000.
1245 A number of candidates standing in Cork South Central, the constituency in which Cork Airport is located, have cancelled their canvassing for the day.
FG candidate Simon Coveney said he would not canvass in light of the terrible events.
Labour’s Paula Desmond has also announced she will not campaign. FF leader Micheál Martin earlier announced he would not be canvassing today.
1237 The Socialist Party has launched its General Election manifesto, putting job creation and a rejection of the IMF/EU deal at the centre of its policies.
Speaking at the launch in Dublin, Joe Higgins, who is the party's candidate in Dublin West, said that the IMF/EU deal was an intolerable burden for the Irish people which would lead to an inevitable default.
He said that a future Fine Gael/Labour government would be committed to what he described as the same unjust and immoral policy as Fianna Fáil.
The Socialist Party says a programme of State investment in public projects is needed to create jobs, and the party is also committed to a nationalised banking system which it says would allow affordable credit to small and medium enterprises.
The Party says that the Irish people are voting not just for new government but for an opposition, and that the Socialist Party, as part of the United Left Alliance, would provide a strong, principled opposition in the Dáil.
1225 The Fianna Fáil news conference on fiscal policy will take place at 3pm this afternoon.
1214 Asked about reform of the Seanad, Sinn Féin says it sees the value of a second parliamentary chamber, but that it needs reform.
Party leader Gerry Adams said proposals to abolish the Seanad or reform it are coming from parties that have been involved in the system for decades and have failed to act on reform.
Asked about banking reform, Caoimghghín O'Caoláin said Sinn Féin is committed to burning the bondholders.
1205 Fine Gael has proposed cutting the 13.5% rate of VAT for two years by at least 1.5% for a range of labour intensive industries.
The party says it would cut by €5 euro the proposed €15 per tonne carbon levy and abolish the travel tax.
They would not introduce a property tax but would raise revenue by cutting Capital Acquisition Tax thresholds.
1202 The Sinn Féin manifesto also commits to a referendum on Irish unity, and outlines how the party will co-ordinate economic planning on an all-Ireland basis.
Sinn Féin's Mary Lou McDonald said the manifesto provides for a Government minister to oversee, plan for, and manage the reunification of Ireland.
1156 Micheál Martin tells Today with PK that if Fianna Fáil had made a recapitalisation payment of €10bn to the banks Fine Gael would be criticising them for doing so, as they no longer have a mandate.
He was responding to accusations from Fine Gael's Simon Coveney that Fianna Fáil deferred the payment as a political stunt.
1154 Fine Gael Finance Spokesperson Michael Noonan said Brian Lenihan had been misleading people in his decision to put off recapitalising the banking sector.
He said Mary Hanafin had indicated the move may not have had Cabinet approval, and the IMF said we had the money and should go ahead and recapitalise leading to what he called a very peculiar set of circumstances.
He said when he yesterday described the move as prudent he had assumed it had cabinet approval and had been discussed with the IMF.
He said he now felt Mr Lenihan was trying to pull a political stroke.
1151 Sinn Féin has launched its manifesto and is promising more frontline healthcare workers, fewer bureaucrats and an end to what it calls the two-tier health system.
The party says it will create 500 new teaching posts, reducing the teacher-pupil ratio to 20:1.
It says the Universal Social Charge will be abolished if SF is in Government after the election.
Sinn Féin proposes a new health system which will provide care free to all at the point of delivery.
1149 Sinn Féin leader Gerry Adams has extended his sympathies to the families of those who died in this morning’s air crash in Co Cork.
He said his thoughts are with those affected and he said the crash puts everything else in context.
1146 The Labour Party has outlined some details of a proposal to introduce a scholarship that would bring 30 students from Brazil, Russia, India and China to study in Ireland each year.
It would cost €1.5m.
The intention is to build a bond between Ireland and those emerging economies, through students who are likely to become future leaders in their home countries.
1141 Fine Gael has launched its fiscal plan.
Under the plan Fine Gael says it is targeting 73% of the required reduction in expenditure through savings in spending and just 27% on net taxation measures.
Fine Gael Leader Enda Kenny said that they believed that by 2014 this would bring our deficit to 2.8% of GDP.
1136 Today With PK is now discussing Independent candidates in Cork South Central.
1125 Fine Gael leader Enda Kenny has said his prayers and the prayers of the country are with those who had lost their lives.
The Fine Gael morning news conference stood for a minute’s silence as a mark of respect to the victims.
1120 Micheál Martin has told Today With Pat Kenny his focus in health was always on how to improve lifespan & quality of life. He said the Government has focused on heart disease.
Earlier Fiona Buckley of UCC told the panel that the Carrigaline area will be an important contest in the Cork South Central constituency.
The panel said Fianna Fáil might receive a boost in Cork because of Micheál Martin's leadership.
1110 Fianna Fáil leader Micheál Martin and Labour leader Eamon Gilmore have all offered their sympathies to the families of those killed in the plane crash at Cork Airport.
1100 The Fine Gael news conference has been delayed by ten minutes due to Cork plane crash says RTÉ's Bryan Dobson.
1100 Today With Pat Kenny is live from the Metropole Hotel in Cork.
1045 Fianna Fáil has postponed a news conference on fiscal policy after the plane crash at Cork Airport.
1000 It has been confirmed that a record of 564 candidates have declared in the General Election.
Research carried out for RTÉ shows that the next highest number of candidates was in 1997, when 484 were nominated.
The research was carried out by James McBride of UCD's Irish Social Science Data Archive.
This year's election also sees a record number of Independent and minor party candidates at 233.
It is also the first time since the foundation of Fianna Fáil in 1926 that that party has not fielded enough candidates to secure a majority in the Dáil if they were all elected.
It is also the first time since 1969 that Fine Gael has more candidates than Fianna Fáil.
0905 We will have live streams of the Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil news conferences on fiscal policy (both from 11am).
We will also have Labour's news conference, at which they will outline details of their proposed BRIC Scholarship Programme. (11.30am.)
0858 Labour leader Eamon Gilmore has said he is amazed that the Government has decided to postpone putting a further injection of cash into Irish banks.
Mr Gilmore said the move, following comments by the Government that the deal cannot be renegotiated, proves that the Labour view that it can and will be renegotiated is accurate.
He said the fact Fianna Fáil has admitted it does not have a mandate to approve the injection of further funding backs up the-view it did not have a mandate to negotiate the EU-IMF deal in the first place.
0845 The Morning Ireland deputy leaders' debate has now concluded.
0844 James Reilly says that the way Irish is taught in schools is a 'turn off' and that 90 years of trying to reinstall Irish as a mainstay have failed, so it is time to try something new.
0843 Mary Hanafin says that Fianna Fáil are totally committed to keeping Irish as a central subject in the Leaving Cert which is important for the future of the Irish language.
0841 Joan Burton says that Labour is opposed to Fine Gael's proposal to abolish Irish as a compulsory subject for the Leaving Cert. She says Labour is committed to the Irish language.
She says that Labour and Fine Gael are capable of working out a deal between them.
0841 Joan Burton says that there is an excess of administrative staff in the health sector, and a shortage of front line workers.
0837 Mary Hanafin says that if re-elected she will keep her Ministerial severance pay, but would be prepared to give it up if there was a measure in place for everyone.
0835 Mary Hanafin says that the Irish minimum wage was relatively high compared to other countries, and that employers said it was a barrier to hiring people. She says it will create new jobs and protect existing jobs.
0834 Joan Burton says that people on minimum wage are a relatively small group, they are mostly women, and mostly young people, and it is unfair for them to shoulder the burden. She says it is possible to renegotiate agreements on overtime, but that the Labour party would reverse the cut.
0832 James Reilly says that Fine Gael would reverse the minimum wage cut if they are in power.
0826 James Reilly says that Fine Gael would not put any more money into Anglo without agreement on burdensharing. He insists that Leo Varadkar's comments 'not another cent' referred mainly to Anglo.
0824 James Reilly says that while Fine Gael's Finance Spokesperson Michael Noonan yesterday said at 6.05pm yesterday that the move was prudent, when he had time to consider he changed his position, and said at 6.30pm that it was not prudent in relation to Bank of Ireland.
0821 Joan Burton says that Micheál Martin went on television on Tuesday night to say that the IMF/EU deal is not negotiable, and it was disingenuous of him to do so if FF had already agreed at Cabinet level to defer the payment.
0819 Mary Hanafin says that Brian Lenihan's decision to defer the latest recapitalisation of the banks until after the election was not a political stunt, and that he felt he did not have a mandate to do so.
0818 Joan Burton says that if people do not vote they are not lending their weight to the call for change. She says that the people she has spoken to are less concerned with what parties can do for them personally, and more interested in what can be done for the country as a whole.
0817 Dr Reilly says that FF and the Greens undermined Ireland's economic sovereignty, but that Ireland is still in charge of its own affairs and that the new Government will negotiate with Europe.
Fine Gael's Dr James Reilly says that staying at home and not voting is accepting the status quo, and that people have to take responsibility to bring about change.
0815 Mary Hanafin says that Fianna Fáil has made very difficult decisions, but that they were the right decisions for the country.
0814 Mary Hanafin tells Cathal MacCoille that canvassing has changed, with voters wanting more detail on proposals and reassurance on the state of the country.
0813 The deputy leaders' debate is beginning now on Morning Ireland.
0805 There will be a deputy leaders' debate on RTÉ's Morning Ireland featuring Mary Hanafin (FF), James Reilly (FG) and Joan Burton (Lab).
0800 Political parties are today focusing on financial and educational initiatives as part of their General Election campaigns.
Fine Gael will this morning publish its fiscal plan covering tax and spending programmes.
Fianna Fáil's proposals will be outlined by Brian Lenihan and Michael McGrath.
Labour leader Eamon Gilmore will announce a scholarship scheme for young people from emerging economies.
Election manifestos are also being published by Sinn Féin and by the Socialist Party.
