Tánaiste Joan Burton said the opposition parties engaged in “long rambling answers” with little focus on detail in the second televised leaders’ debate.
Ms Burton was one of seven leaders who participated in the RTÉ debate on the Claire Byrne show.
The Labour party leader denied she had a poor performance on the programme.
Ms Burton said : “I believe my perfomance as very robust. I got across all the points I wanted to.”
The Tánaiste said she used the opportunity to discuss the future while the other party leaders wanted to talk about the past.
Ms Burton said she set out a vision and an ambition for the country and reminded people of the need to maintain the recovery.
Fianna Fáil, Sinn Féin, Fine Gael, Social Democrats, Renua , People before Profit-Anti austerity Alliance and Labour all participated in the debate.
Fianna Fáil leader Micheál Martin and Sinn Féin leader Gerry Adams were involved in the frankest exchanges during the debate.
Mr Martin claimed not one guard in the country believes Mr Adams was not a member of the IRA.
He said none of Sinn Féin’s proposals could be taken seriously given Mr Adams’s denial that he was a member of the organisation.
The Sinn Féin leader urged Mr Martin to go to the gardai with any information he has.
