The Taoiseach admits today's opinion poll poses 'a real risk' that his party won't be in Government next time around.
The Sunday Times/Behaviour and Attitudes Poll shows Fianna Fail on 32% with Fine Gael dropping 7 percentage points to 20%.
Sinn Féin's hot on its heels at 19%.
The Green Party is next on 4%, while the Labour Party is on 4%
923 people were asked their views in the poll between January 2nd and 14th.
Leo Varadkar says the poll shows there's a chance Fianna Fail will be in power next time around.
"It would mean the country falling backwards -- and we know what happens every time Fianna Fáil gets into power, it ends badly. It ends with a boom and a bust."
Fianna Fáil leader Mícheál Martin believes the race is much tighter than it seems.
"National polls need to be treated with a great degree of cautiion," he said. "I actually believe that the battles in the individual constituencies will determine the outcome."
"It's early days yet."
Sinn Féin TD Martin Kenny says it's not a surprise.
"Everywhere we go people are saying they're not voting for either of the two main parties, that they're tired of them, that they feel they've been in government together for the past four years and they have issues with that," he said.
