Taoiseach: ‘No pot of gold for Government to spend’

Taoiseach Enda Kenny has told angry voters that there is no "pot of gold" for the Government to spend.

Responding to mid-term elections which saw heavy council losses for Fine Gael and a rout for its Coalition partners, Labour, Mr Kenny said he understood people were hurting.

“The situation that has been put in place by the people yesterday is a stark reminder of frustration, impatience and anger and a wearing out process. We have been very clear with the people that there is no pot of gold,” he told RTÉ.

The Taoiseach said that Independents and Sinn Féin taking around 45% of the popular vote represented a “major shift”.

He appeared to indicate that the Government would try and engage more with people’s concern following the election results.

“We have been listening [but] we’re not by any means perfect. At the end of the day what the Government have to do is look after those who are vulnerable to the best extent possible.

“What we want to do is take away the fear and anxiety of what people have about losing the medical cards. We live in 2014 — we have to have a sense of Christian compassion in taking care of people.”

Mr Kenny moved to shore-up his coalition partner Eamon Gilmore by insisting that Labour and Fine Gael went into government “with our eyes open”. The Taoiseach insisted that Mr Gilmore and his party had stepped-up to the mark in the national interest.

“No politician wants to say ‘I’ve got to make a tough choice here’. This was a case of our endless poverty and we’ve come a long way in three years.”

In a swipe at opponents of the austerity agenda, Mr Kenny said that the economic situation was never going to be fixed by “pious aspirations”. “If anybody has a better idea ... walk in here and say here’s 64,000 million [€] for you, I’d like to hear it.”

Mr Kenny said he would not comment on speculation over Mr Gilmore’s future as Labour leader.

“It was Tánaiste Gilmore who led the charge for the restoration of the integrity of Ireland abroad.”

Mr Kenny was speaking as his party’s share of the vote looked set to slump by more than one third on its general election tally of 36%,

Heavy losses at council level were set to see it overtaken as the biggest party in local government by Fianna Fáil with its final vote tally likely to be in the low 20s.

Fine Gael went into the election having an influence on the running of 27 local authorities, but a surge by independents and Sinn Féin will eat deeply into that former dominance.

For more in depth updates and analysis on the fallout from this year's election and access to our comprehensive results database visit our special Election 2014 section.