This State has seen many positive developments in recent times, so much so that we have almost reached the stage where we are blase about the end of mass unemployment and emigration and the construction of a framework for a permanent and just peace.

These have been the great issues facing Ireland not just since independence, but for centuries. I believe that the Government, in which I had the honour of serving under the Taoiseach's leadership, has been effective in tackling many of these issues and pointing the way forward to an agenda of lasting peace and prosperity.

Ireland still has many problems to face, particularly those relating to housing, transport and waste-management, which come from our economic transition, but things are moving forward and this is why the Taoiseach and Fianna Fail have continued to receive strong public support in spite of an Opposition which likes to roar "crisis" a dozen times a day.

As revealed fully in the interview published yesterday in The Irish Times, John Bruton's basic strategy for regaining power is the twintrack approach of avoiding any serious policy stance and of attacking the character of his principal opponent.

The policy platform outlined by Mr Bruton is so vague that it merits closer scrutiny. In essence, Fine Gael will, he has stated, go before the electorate with the brave and radical platform of promising that, if we vote for it, we will have a better quality of life, live longer, read more, suffer from less depression, recycle our waste and get to work quicker.

Americans have long since described this as "motherhood and apple pie" politics - where the rhetoric matters more than the substance.

Unfortunately, this type of high-sounding but strange approach to developing a programme for government is not the only thing which Mr Bruton has decided to borrow from America.

Against a background of his consistent failure to dent the Taoiseach's standing, rumblings on his backbenches and an impending by-election, Mr Bruton's decision to concentrate on personalised attacks on the Taoiseach is not surprising, but it is nonetheless to be regretted. It adds nothing to our politics but the ugly spectre of negative, personalised attack-politics.

Having failed to win on policy and enduring the frustration of his failure to persuade the people that he should be Taoiseach, Mr Bruton has resorted to playing the man, not the ball.

When he came to office almost three years ago, Mr Ahern made it clear that he believed that an essential part of looking to the future is to address the problems of the past. It is not just the Moriarty and Flood tribunals which are dealing with past failings which must be understood and confronted.

Indeed, a whole host of other long-neglected issues have fallen to this Government to deal with and it has, quite frankly unlike its predecessor, taken up the challenge.

I served with the Taoiseach in various parliamentary and Cabinet roles over the last decade and a half. I have always known him to be motivated purely by a sense of public service.

He has also always been steadfast in his belief that the tribunals established by motions introduced by his Government should be supported in carrying out their work completely and thoroughly so they can play a part in re-establishing public faith in democratic politics.

During the negotiations of the Good Friday agreement every person involved saw in the Taoiseach a person of great substance and integrity. This is what has resonated with the people in spite of the best efforts of the Opposition to damage his standing.

While the Opposition will continue to seek short-term gain from different pieces of information as they arise, the latest "get Bertie" campaign breaks new and deeply disturbing ground.

It is plainly absurd to suggest that it was widely known that Mr Haughey had achieved and was maintaining his lifestyle from directly receiving the level and type of payments recently revealed.

As someone who was not a supporter of the former Taoiseach, I was as surprised as most people when I read about his receipt of at least £8.5 million from the time of his election as leader in 1979. The Taoiseach has been very clear, both publicly and privately, that he has never and would never condone the use of public office for personal enrichment.

The legacy of Charles Haughey is a complicated one. Much progress was seen because of his time in public life and we have to be mature enough to recognise this. But the facts which have recently come to light about his personal finances must be, and will be, addressed while respecting his right, like all citizens, to due process.

Attempts by the Opposition to use these revelations to tar others are unworthy and will not succeed.

David Andrews is Fianna Fail TD for Dun Laoghaire and the former Minister for Foreign Affairs