Taoiseach Enda Kenny has told the annual conference of the European Peoples Party, of which Fine Gael is a member, that the arrival of the Troika in Ireland was like a 'bloodless coup" which resulted in harsh economic decisions being taken.
Mr Kenny was outlining what he said were the achievements of the coalition in steering the economy out of recession.
He told delegates in Madrid that in the election due next year Fine Gael and Labour would offer separate platforms, but the same message of stability and job creation.
Mr Kenny also said the Governor of the Central Bank told him that one weekend he had feared the Army might have had to be called in to protect banks and ATMs, and capital controls might have had to be imposed as they were in Cyprus.
The Taoiseach said his Government had helped pull back from that brink.
Mr Kenny is backing Dara Murphy, Minister of State with Special Responsibility for European Affairs, in his bid to be elected as one of the groups vice presidents at the conference.
Meanwhile, former Fine Gael minister of state John Perry has appealed to be added to the Sligo/North Leitrim party ticket for the General Election at a Fine Gael parliamentary party meeting.
Mr Perry recently lost out at the selection convention in Drumshambo, Co Leitrim.
Speaking on RTÉ's Morning Ireland, he said the commitment was made that all sitting TDs would be allowed to contest the next general election and that "there was no ambiguity about this".
He said Mr Kenny should intervene as it is ultimately his decision and he has the final say on this.
"This precedent would be quite extraordinary for Fine Gael."
He rejected that any possible controversies surrounding him in recent times, like his wife being appointed to a €38,000 a year role, had resulted in difficulties in him being selected.
He ruled out running as an Independent if his campaign to be added to the party ticket is not successful.
"I believe in fighting within the party and I have been a party activist all my life."
The Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation has said the question of whether or not John Perry should be added to the Fine Gael ticket in his constituency is a decision for the national executive of party.
Richard Bruton said the party will have to look at the profile of candidates for the constituency and make a decision.
He said the matter was not one that he is directly involved in but he added that he knows the party will take the right decision in the interests of the party.
Asked about whether his own case set a precedent, he said in his own constituency they now have the best possible ticket and that is something which the party sought to do.
He described it as a very balanced ticket for a very large constituency which he said was the right outcome.
The Fine Gael election candidate for the Sligo/North Leitrim constituency has said he does not know if the Taoiseach made a commitment to allow every sitting TD to contest the general election.
Gerry Reynolds said the executive council decided to select two candidates in the constituency, one from Leitrim and one from Sligo, and there were no dissenting voices for that directive.
He said that he would accept it if another candidate was added to the ticket but if that did happen then there was strong support for Senator Michael Comiskey to be added to the ticket.
Mr Reynolds said he did not believe there was any question mark over the process that lead to John Perry being excluded.
Enda Kenny at EPP conference in Madrid- tells delegates arrival of Troika was like a "bloodless coup" pic.twitter.com/d9MmQciHlA
— ddp (@theddp) October 22, 2015
