Fianna Fáil has extended its lead over Fine Gael in the latest Sunday Business Post/Red C poll.

The party is up by two points to 28 per cent, which is its strongest showing in the poll for almost a year.

Fine Gael is unchanged on 24 per cent, as senior ministers continue to wait to see when Taoiseach Enda Kenny will announce his departure date.

At the moment, Kenny is in the thick of the preparations for the Brexit negotiations and also has a three-day visit to Canada planned for this week.

While the controversy over the ownership of the new National Maternity Hospital has not damaged Fine Gael, there are more worrying signs for the Independent Alliance. It is down by one point to two per cent, which is half the 4 per cent support level it secured in last year’s general election.

Support for other Independents continues to fluctuate. After going up three points in last month’s poll, they are now down three points in this latest poll to 10 per cent.

One beneficiary is Sinn Féin, which sees its seen its support increase by one point to 18 per cent. It is due to put the focus on the National Maternity Hospital issue again with a motion when the Dáil returns from its Easter break this week.

Labour, which recently held its annual conference in Wexford, is unchanged at six per cent.

The Solidarity-People Before Profit party are also unchanged at four per cent.

The Social Democrats have seen some members leave the party in recent months. But their support is actually up by one point to four per cent.

The Green Party is down by one point to three per cent. Renua, which dropped off the radar in last month’s poll, is back up to 1 per cent.

The Sunday Business Post/Red C telephone poll of 1,004 adults was carried out between Monday April 24 – Friday April 28.

For a full breakdown and analysis of the poll, see tomorrow's Sunday Business Post.

How they stand:

Fianna Fail 28 (+2)

Fine Gael 24 (=)

Sinn Fein 18 (+1)

Independents 10 (-3)

Labour 6 (=)

Social Democrats 4 (+1)

Solidarity- People Before Profit 4 (=)

Green Party 3 (-1)

Independent Alliance 2 (-1)

Renua 1 (+1)

Total: 100