Leo Varadkar to discuss plan to 'tame inflation' at Fine Gael ard fheis

'We have a lot more to do, particularly in the areas of housing and healthcare reform,' says Coveney

Fine Gael leader and Tánaiste Leo Varadkar speaking to media in ahead of the Fine Gael ard fheis on Saturday

More than 2,000 party members of Fine Gael are meeting for the party's first in-person ard fheis since 2019.

The gathering comes just a month before party leader and Tánaiste Leo Varadkar returns to the role of Taoiseach.

Mr Varadkar will tell the country tonight of his plan to “tame inflation” over the next two years, once he becomes Taoiseach again next month.

In an interview with the Irish Examiner at the ard fheis in Athlone, Mr Varadkar said he will use the address to convince people that the historic three-party Government with Fianna Fáil and the Green Party is working well.

“I suppose that the key message really is going to be that we believe this Government is working, that's making progress, that we don't downplay, in any way, the many challenges that we face,” he said.

“We want to redouble our efforts over the next two years to tame inflation to bring the cost-of-living crisis under control to make more progress on housing, to focus on issues like law and order."

Mr Varadkar insisted there is “no fatigue” in Fine Gael and that the party is looking to remain in office.

He said while being in Government since 2011 brings turbulence, his party is in “good shape”.

“You only have to look around to see the level of energy and [it's] so encouraging to see many new people join the party in recent years,” he said.

“So for them, this is their first ard fheis. It is definitely great to meet some of the younger members in college or in their 20s for whom this is the first time they've been able to attend an event like this.

“We are the biggest party in Ireland, or at least in the Republic of Ireland by membership, and membership is well over 20,000. So we are strong enough on the ground — maybe not as strong as I'd like in some counties. But you know, a party that is in good shape, notwithstanding the turbulence that comes with being a Government for over 10 years."

Mr Varadkar said Fine Gael's first ard fheis in person since 2019 is “really important” for the party to reconnect in a way that was not possible during Covid-19.

'Privilege' of a Fine Gael Taoiseach

Speaking at the start of the ard fheis at the Technological University of the Shannon, Foreign Affairs Minister Simon Coveney said they are looking forward to the "privilege" of a Fine Gael Taoiseach for the next two years in a Government which he described as "working well together".

"I'm cognisant of the fact that we have a lot more to do, particularly in the areas of housing and healthcare reform, but really determined to do that, and to lay the foundations for a proposition for the electorate who will also be looking to the future given all of the uncertainty that we're looking to navigate at the moment in terms of international influences on Ireland," he said.

Mr Coveney said that he feels the Government will be able to "strike a contrast" in how it is planning for Ireland's future, "and the way in which some opposition parties are promising populist radical change which we don't believe to be serious or credible".

Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe said: "Even though this will be a day that will be positive in terms of the number of people that are attending, the debate we'll be having with each other, we're very much aware of the challenges that so many households and businesses are facing at the moment.

"This is why a focus for recent months has been how we can put money back in their pockets, how we can use an economy that has been well managed.

"We have had a focus on restoring stability in our public finances."

Mr Coveney said there will also be a "change of personalities in certain jobs" next month when Mr Varadkar returns to the role of taoiseach, but said those changes will be a matter for party leaders.