Labour is on course to win over 40 seats in the next Dáil, according to its director of elections, Ruairi Quinn.

Delivering his assessment of the campaign so far, Mr Quinn said the party was poised to make a historic breakthrough in many parts of the country.

In Connacht-Ulster counties, support was running at three times its traditional level, according to Mr Quinn, who tipped candidates such as Dr Jerry Cowley to win first-time Labour seats in Mayo.

Labour is running 68 candidates in this election, 18 more than in 2007. In 23 constituencies, it is running more than one candidate.

Mr Quinn described as extraordinary the Government's decision to defer a further cash injection into Irish banks until after the election. The announcement by Minister for Finance Brian Lenihan that one of the central requirements of the IMF-EU deal would not be met showed that it was negotiable.

The deal would have to be-negotiated after the election and any new agreement would have to recognise that bondholders were part of the problem as well as part of the solution, Mr Quinn said.

The party today proposed the creation of a third-level scholarship scheme for the so-called Bric countries (Brazil, Russia, India and China). The plan, designed to foster links with these emerging world powers, would cost €1.5 million a year and would be run by the Department of Foreign Affairs.

Labour spokeswoman for social and family affairs Roisin Shortall said the scheme would put Ireland on the map in Bric countries and promote cultural, social and political ties.

Labour estimates that five per cent of its posters have been blown away in the bad weather. By the end of the campaign, the party will have put up at least 90,000 posters, affixed with 300,000 cable-ties.

The party's 89 page manifesto will be launched in the Aviva Stadium tomorrow.