Michael Noonan has accused Fianna Fáil of making bogus promises and telling blatant lies about health policy. The Fine Gael leader said the country was facing a fiscal crisis that the Government "had got us into".
He said underpinning the promises made by all political parties must be fiscal prudence. Asked about a possible vote transfer pact with Labour, Mr Noonan said he was in regular contact with the Labour Party and its leader Ruairí Quinn.
Earlier, Fianna Fáil attacked opposition parties over their health plans, claiming that they had not explained how they would fund their commitments.
The Minister for Health, Mícheal Martin, claimed Fianna Fáil was the only party, which had spelled out how it would pay for its National Health Strategy.
Liz McManus of Labour said support for her party would be a vote for a new health care system that provided equal treatment for all citizens.
Meanwhile, Ruairí Quinn declared today that his party will not go into coalition unless its health strategy is made part of the Programme for Government.
Mr Quinn, who was campaigning in north Tipperary this morning, was welcomed to Nenagh by Senator Kathleen O'Meara, who is one of the Labour Party's big hopes for success in this election.
The Labour leader was touring Nenagh Hospital, where it is claimed nursing posts are not being filled and the party believes there may be a secret policy to downgrade its status.
Mr Quinn said Minister Martin should clarify its future immediately. The Labour leader has visited more hospitals than any other party leader in this campaign.
He said: "It's there in our pledge, we said it. Number One of our six pledges: If this is not part of the Programme for Government, we will not be part of that government."
In a further development, Minister Martin repeated the party's manifesto pledge to permanently end hospital waiting lists by the end of 2004.
In response, deputy leader of the Labour Party, Brendan Howlin, said that increasing capacity could reduce waiting lists for a short time, but without reform as well as extra capacity, there would always be waiting lists.
