"Complete rest, " was the medical advice, but the Fianna Fail leader is not a great believer in rest. He's hoping to get back jogging today.

With 15 months to the expected, next general election in May 2007, Bertie Ahern is busy plotting a third successive election victory.

The opinion polls show the government susceptible on health, transport and childcare, with immigration a new area of concern for many voters. But, when he spoke with the Sunday Tribune in his office in Government Buildings last week, Ahern was openly dismissive of the challenge posed by Enda Kenny and Pat Rabbitte.

Incompetent, incoherent and irresponsible were the Taoiseach's words when talking about the Fine GaelLabour alternative. Family photographs on a side table beside Ahern's desk give air to his familiarity with the Taoiseach's office. He has no plans to move out soon, and getting Fianna Fail back into power with the PDs is his favoured preference, although the option of government with Labour is being kept open.

Immigration KR: Will immigration be an issue at the next general election?

BA: I don't know if it will be a key issue, but it's an issue because a high proportion of the people in this country now are non-Irish. We've come from figures where immigration was little or nothing, and now it's quite a fear. So how that is handled into the future is hugely important. . . I'm in a very good position on this because they're all in my constituency, and I find myself meeting all these communities, going to Ramadan days and keeping very good relations with them. But I think the big issue with the punter is the whole thing of the protection of workers.

KR: Were you surprised that Pat Rabbitte raised the issue of worker displacement at the start of this year?

BA: Well, I think they were looking at their research and seeing that immigration is an issue. We've been seeing that for a number of years. But I've been responsible handling and dealing with it. . . If anything intrigues me about the opposition it is that I don't know which side of a major argument they will be on. One day it's the protection of migrant workers, asking me to bring more enforcement to help fellows working in meat factories or Gama, but the next day . . . as it was last week . . . how dare we pay benefit to the children of migrants. You can't look in the mirror and get two faces, at least not in my mirror, but that's what the opposition is trying to do.

KR: You used the word 'responsible'. Do you think that some of the debate about immigration has been irresponsible?

BA: It has not been responsible. Fine Gael last week were challenging me, saying we were going to spend 200m plus [on childcare payments for non-nationals] but when I checked the figures it wasn't even 2m. And then trying to hype up displacement, trying to say there's huge displacement going on. Is there huge displacement going on? If there is, let's look at it.

The government would view with great concern the political and social implications of displacing workers on established conditions in favour of those willing to do the same job on poorer conditions. That's our position. . .

We do not want to see people building competitive advantage based on poor wages, the casualisation of labour, low health and safety standards. Not only is it wrong, it's simply not sustainable.

From our point of view, while recognising the exceptional situation in the Irish Ferries case, it is hugely important to remember that the full range of Irish employment law and social protection still applies to people employed here regardless of nationality.

The opposition KR: When you look across the Dail chamber at Enda Kenny and Pat Rabbitte, do you ever privately think that you're looking at a future Taoiseach and a future Tanaiste?

BA: I hope not for the country's sake because I see their differences. Personally they're all nice people.

They're hard-working people like the rest of us. All we've achieved since 1987 to get high employment, goodquality jobs, low taxes and high resources to put money into services . . . that needs a coherence of policy and I don't see coherence any day on issues from the opposition. Look at this week . . . Pat Rabbitte was going ga-ga about the Great Southern Hotels while Fine Gael was issuing a statement welcoming a sale.

KR: Yet unlike in 2002 when Michael Noonan and Ruairi Quinn did their own thing, we are now talking about an alternative. Does that not present a new challenge?

BA: Except it gets no more sophisticated than the Mullingar Accord. I don't think any political leader in my position would be afraid of the Mullingar Accord where they have an annual photoshoot on the same day as the Fianna Fail parliamentary party is discussing real issues. We haven't seen one substantial document yet that's jointly theirs and jointly costed. They have one policy . . . to replace the present government, and the only way they can do that is to all join together. So it's Kenny, Rabbitte, Sargent, O'Caolain, Higgins or any combination of them to defeat us. But that's the only policy they have.

KR: How do you respond to opposition statements that Fianna Fail has been in office for too long and for the good of democracy the country needs a change of government?

BA: My answer to that is. . . is there some God-given right written down somewhere that because people have successfully being doing the right thing to benefit the country, therefore they should get out of government to leave in people who when they had the chance at running the economy showed gross incompetence, that they should take over again. I don't understand the logic to that, so that's my answer to them.

The waste of public money KR: The opposition has for some months focused on government waste, the mis-