The Fianna Fáil leader has his party is "on the side of the people", responding to the Sinn Féin leader's accusation that his party was on the side of developers and bankers.
Micheál Martin had described the Sinn Féin manifesto as a "con job".
Speaking in Clane, Co Kildare he said he would rather hear the specifics of what Sinn Féin was referring to.
He said proposed Sinn Féin taxes would cost thousands of jobs in counties like Kildare, as many companies would be taxed out of existence.
Earlier Mr Martin reiterated his opposition to forming a coalition with Sinn Féin, saying he stuck by his word to do so in 2016 and would do so again.
Speaking on RTÉ's Today with Sean O'Rourke, Mr Martin said Fianna Fáil wanted as many seats as possible in the upcoming election, and would form a government with like-minded parties.
Asked to name such parties, he named the Greens, Social Democrats and Labour as possible candidates.
Mr Martin said the Fianna Fáil parliamentary party endorsed his opposition to Sinn Féin, who he said would "destroy jobs in this country" with their manifesto.
Mr Martin said people were underestimating the level of opposition to Sinn Féin within the grassroots of Fianna Fáil, as people resent the party's legacy. What's worse, he said, was Sinn Féin had never apologised for it.
He also pointed to their role in bringing down the Stormont Assembly for three years in Northern Ireland.
He said it was clear that people wanted change from Fine Gael and pointed to problems such as housing, particularly the issue of younger people struggling to get on the property ladder.
He defended Fianna Fáil's decision to facilitate a functioning government in order to avoid a no-deal Brexit, and said if Brexit was not an issue, an election would have been called much sooner.
Mr Martin said the public have not voted yet, and so people should not read too much into opinion polls which have suggested Fianna Fáil is leading the way.
He also said he believed there was a critical mass to form a government.
He said he has not excluded the prospect of a Confidence and Supply arrangement with Fine Gael, but said he did not see it as something that could happen at all.
Mr Martin said this was as he wanted to lead an alternative government, and said he thinks there would be enough numbers after the election to do that.
Asked about criticism of his frontbench and if they were up to the task, Mr Martin said that was the Fine Gael line, and said people wanted a change with Simon Harris and Eoghan Murphy no longer in charge of health and housing.
He said he was confident that he would have a larger pool of elected TDs to choose from in order to frame his prospective frontbench, and said he was hopeful of having a good number of women at the cabinet table.
He said Fianna Fáil had the largest number of women up for election this year, and said he was hopeful of having an increased number of female TDs.
Asked if he would not consider adding people like Pearse Doherty and Eoin Ó Broin to a coalition frontbench, he said it was not extraordinary to rule that out.
He acknowledged there were "talented people" in Sinn Féin, like in every other political party.
Mr Martin dismissed the idea that Fianna Fáil would be the cause of a second election, were they not to be able to form a coalition if they end up getting the most seats.
He said he was confident they are in a position to lead the next government. He said many people pointed out that the Confidence and Supply deal would not last, but it did last as he kept his word.
He said what people want in rural Ireland is jobs, and if in government he would work to bring more jobs to places like Tralee and Ballina.
Mr Martin said all of Fine Gael housing targets had failed, and if they were met there would be thousands more in housing but that was not the case.
He said it was Fianna Fáil determination in this election to deliver an alternative to Fine Gael.
Mr Martin said the real issue for many young couples was the high cost of rent hitting their savings. He said their quality of life is "hopelessly impaired".
He said Fianna Fáil recognise the terrible trap they are in.
He said his father on a bus driver's wage could afford a house at Turner's Cross during a poorer time for the country, and said now was a far cry from that.
Mr Martin said the red tape in terms of housing was "incredible".
Mr Martin said the government must protect Irish businesses from being lured to a post-Brexit Britain, and added he wanted to create an environment in which Irish SMEs could thrive.
