A new exit poll suggests that Fine Gael, Fianna Fáil and Sinn Féin are tied when it comes to first preference votes.

The exit poll, carried out by Ipsos MRBI for RTÉ, The Irish Times, TG4 and UCD, indicates all three parties have 22% of first preference votes.

The margin of error in this exit poll is 1.3% – which means any of the three parties could be as low as 20.7% support or as high as 23.3%.

The breakdown of figures are as follows:

• Fine Gael – 22%

• Fianna Fáil – 22%

• Sinn Féin – 22%

• Labour – 4%

• Solidarity-People Before Profit – 3%

• Independents – 11%

• Green Party – 8%

• Social Democrats – 3%