McCreevy unmoved by poll rating

FINANCE Minister Charlie McCreevy dismissed the poll at the weekend that suggested he was the least popular Government minister and he predicted the Government would serve its full five-year term.

Shrugging off the figures that put the Government's popularity at its lowest in two decades, he said there was still a long way to go to an election, and he believed in taking the longer view of things.

On his own personal rating put at 4.5 out of 10 by the Irish Independent IMS poll he said he was not concerned about it.

"I believe the Minister for Finance should never be popular," he said.

He said the Government should take solace from the fact that every party leader and political party had lost support or at best remained the same.

"On the basis of that in the next election people will have to vote for someone, I suppose we will have to take solace from that and it's a long way from the next election," he said.

The Government had completed just one year of its five-year term and he was happy for the electorate to judge them at the end of that period.

"We must take the long-term view. There were times in the past when the Government was exceptionally unpopular, and certainly there were times when Charlie McCreevy was very unpopular, breaking all records, but we won the election," he said.

He added that he would not change his management of the nation's finances to improve his popularity rating with the public. "I intend to do the right thing as regards the economy and when it comes to an election the people can make up their minds," he said.

Mr McCreevy was attending an EU finance ministers meeting in Stresa, Italy where he spoke against commission plans to abolish the zero VAT rate on children's shoes and clothing.