Minister for Transport Shane Ross has said that after its first year the Government is doing well, despite some early hiccups and things are moving well after a slow start.
On media criticism of him as minister, he said there has been a lot, some of which is justified and if he was back in the media he would probably be criticising himself too.
He said getting involved in transport disputes would have been exactly the wrong thing to do.
In relation to State board appointments under his department, Mr Ross agreed there are a lot of vacancies and said some of them will stay vacant as they are complete unnecessary.#
He added that the boards are far too big and places used to be filled by cronies.
He described as "fair enough" the criticism of him that he saw himself almost as part of the Opposition when he joined the Cabinet.
He admitted he had an "Opposition mindset" for many months at Cabinet and he saw other ministers as political foes, because he was a political foe of Fine Gael for many, many years.
Now he said the Independent Alliance has made the adjustment and is an independent group within Government with a different perspective but on the same side.
Minister Ross said at Cabinet they now thrash out issues whereas initially it was a matter of confrontation, which was unhealthy.
Mr Ross said Taoiseach Enda Kenny is a mighty presence in the Cabinet and the Dáil.
He said he could work with either Simon Coveney or Leo Varadkar, the leading contenders to replace Mr Kenny, but expressed no preference.
He added however that he would like to stay in his current department.
Mr Ross also said the Irish people should know which way the country voted in the election of Saudi Arabia to a UN body for women's rights.
He said it was a major decision and when Ireland is casting its vote on behalf of citizens on issues of this sort, people are entitled to know.
"There appears to be long tradition of keeping it secret, that is wrong."
Speaking on RTÉ's Morning Ireland, he said he and his Independent Alliance colleagues can see no reason why the information could not be released.
He said they would be raising the issue with Minister for Foreign Affairs Charlie Flanagan
"We are going to ask him to tell us which way Ireland voted and why Ireland voted. I think it is reasonable to do that. This is a very, very important issue and the idea that it should be secret or behind closed doors is a convention, as referred to by the Taoiseach yesterday, and I accept it's convention but it is not acceptable convention.
"We are going to make it absolutely clear that we expect transparency, that is why the Independent Alliance came into government. I think we are going to come back to it again and again until we get a satisfactory answer."
He said while they are not trying to bring down the Government on every issue they will keep pushing on this until they get an answer.
Meanwhile, the The Chief Whip's office has told RTÉ that 24 bills have been passed since the new Government was formed last may; 18 in 2016 and six so far this year.
There are currently 29 bills before the Oireachtas, and 36 bills have been published.
In addition 134 private member's bills have been published since last May.
McGrath says Government needs to improve
Fianna Fáil finance spokesman Michael McGrath has said the inactivity of the Government in terms of legislation has nothing got to with its minority status.
He said the Government needs to improve greatly in terms of the issues that affect people, like housing and health.
He also said the uncertainty over the Taoiseach's exit date was not helpful to Government, but added it was a Fine Gael issue.
He said Fianna Fáil is committed in its support of the Government.
Referring to Mr Ross' achievements in Government, he said the minister needed to decide is he in Opposition, in Government or a journalist.
He also told RTÉ the Taoiseach needs to be clear on how Ireland voted at the UN.
