The former Education Minister Ruairi Quinn says he believes the next election will not take place until the very end of the Dáil term.
The Labour TD for Dublin South East stepped down as Education Minister earlier this year and announced his intention to retire from politics at the end of the current Dáil term.
His political career spans more than 40 years.
But, despite poor results in the recent opinion polls, Ruairi Quinn told The Sunday Show on Newtalk that he believes the Labour party will bounce back:
In the Dáil earlier this month, Sinn Féin TD Mary Lou McDonald said the government must either abolish the water charges or call an early election.
Recent opinion polls showed that the coalition parties are struggling for support, with Labour having a backing of just 5-6%.
Mr Quinn also told the show it was their intention to burn the bondholders when they went into government.
He says that as soon as they were elected, then leader Eamon Gilmore appointed three people to negotiate a programme for government with Fine Gael.
They were immediately informed by the Department of Fiance that the money would run out if they did not agree to the Troika's terms.
Deputy Quinn says this meant they could not burn the bondholders:
Originally posted at 14.39
