In a speech to be given to the business group IBEC tonight, Taoiseach Enda Kenny is expected to pledge to bring unemployment to less than 6% during the lifetime of the next government - if Fine Gael returns to power.

While there have been reports that the party intends to sideline Mr Kenny during the election campaign, the party leader will set-out Fine Gael's vision for how the Irish economy will develop if his party is given a second term.

Irish Independent reports that he will also commit to returning a surplus in the public finances, while setting out a five-year plan for the economy.

It may have a Soviet-ring to it, but an Taoiseach hopes that the plan will strike a cord with modern-voters as Fine Gael highlights the recovery which has occurred since the current Coalition came to power, as it seeks a fresh mandate in the next General Election.

Reports suggest that the plan has three facets:

• New measures will be put in place to replace jobs which were lost in Ireland during the financial crisis - with the ultimate goal of achieving unemployment of below 6%.

• Policies to cut the total amount of tax paid by workers - efforts to make childcare more affordable, and to increase the minimum wage.

• Restraint in public spending while the economy grows, to avoid the boom/bust nature of Ireland's last economic upturn.

Ahead of the speech Ireland's Fiscal Council - the watchdog which advises the government on fiscal issues - has given its approval to the Government's budget plan, but has warned against any move to increase spending or tax cuts any further.

In a pre-budget statement it says that proposed tax cuts and spending increases of between €1.2bn and €1.5bn are economically prudent.

It had previously warned against a pre-election giveaway in next month's budget - but it now says that growth in Ireland's economy is strong enough to justify the extra spending.

Irish Independent says that the following passages will appear in Mr Kenny's speech:

"After a lost decade of economic hardship, a new more sustainable period of prosperity is now within our grasp.

"But Irish families know that the recovery is fragile and incomplete. All remain nervous about the risks ahead and the danger of slipping back.

"They want and deserve a solid foundation on which to plan our futures. Our plan will offer that foundation."

An Taoiseach recently joined Newstalk's Down to Business. Speaking in Westport, Co. Mayo he discussed the state of Ireland outside of its main urban centres - saying that talk of the 'death of rural Ireland' has been overstated:

“I don’t accept at all anybody’s thesis that provincial Ireland is dead. Yes, there have been catastrophes and yes there are places that have suffered unduly but now the challenge is to make that happen in a different way.”