Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine Simon Coveney has told RTÉ’s Morning Ireland that the focus of the election campaign for the last few weeks has been on what hasn't been achieved over the last five years instead of on what has been done.
Mr Coveney said the country that was broken has been rebuilt from an economic point of view which means there is now an economy to fund and build the social services that are needed.
Speaking on RTÉ's Morning Ireland, Mr Coveney said that the last five years have not been easy but said that extraordinary progress has been made.
He added that outside of Ireland, the progress has been seen as some sort of economic miracle.
Mr Coveney defended Fine Gael's proposal to abolish the USC over the next number of years, saying the best way to do that was to give families back some financial resource.
He added that Fine Gael also proposed to introduce a wealth levy so the better off do not gain disproportionately.
Mr Coveney defended Taoiseach Enda Kenny's performance, saying he has "made some mistakes but he is human".
He said that he doubted Mr Kenny in the past but he has worked closely with him over the past five years and he has been extraordinary.
He said Mr Kenny has always believed in his country and its people and he urged people to look at his performance and not a couple of remarks in debates.
Mr Coveney said he did not believe that Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil would make for a stable government and he did not trust Fianna Fáil who, he said, would promise anything to get votes.
