Government 'committed to full employment by 2018'
Fine Gael's director of elections Brian Hayes has said the Government remains committed to having full employment by 2018.
Mr Hayes said the outlook was positive for the Coalition's re-election to power.
Earlier this week the Tánaiste said she was on high alert for an election, leading to speculation that the ballot may be held earlier in 2016 than initially anticipated.
Speaking at the European Parliament in Strasbourg Brian Hayes said making work pay would be a key commitment if the Coalition were returned.
"It's certainly an ambition of Fine Gael and Labour's to have full employment by 2018," he said. "We still have too many people out of work and not enough people have seen the benefits of the clearly improving economic circumstances.
"The key message of our campaign is to keep the recovery going. The way you (do that) is to get more people back to work, and make it pay to work for people who are caught in too much taxation at the moment."