The leaders of Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael and Sinn Féin clashed on the areas of housing and the economy during the RTÉ Prime Time debate last night.
Once again both Fianna Fáil leader Micheál Martin and Fine Gael Leader Simon Harris insisted that their parties would not form a government with Sinn Féin after the election.
Opinion polls in recent days suggested these three parties are bunched together in terms of support.
Over the course of this debate none of the three party leaders were able to pull clear of their opponents either.
Mr Martin said "it's a definite" that his party would not go into government with Sinn Féin, because they are not pro-enterprise and the parities' housing policies are incompatible.
Mr Harris agreed, saying it was not personal but the differences were just too great around issues like the EU and criminal justice.
Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald said that after a century of governments led by what she termed "Tweedledum and Tweedledee" there was life beyond Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael.
She said that she has never been more ready to lead a government.
Read more: Key takeaways from debate that had no clear winner
All three leaders promised to put billions towards a buffer to protect against economic turbulence.
The Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael leaders were adamant though that Sinn Féin would not allocate sufficient money to this fund.
Ms McDonald insisted that she was a practical person who knew the importance of setting money aside.
Mr Martin also said that Sinn Féin's "enormous" tax increases would destroy Ireland's enterprise economy.
"Sinn Féin do not get the enterprise economy, they don't get trade," he claimed.
Mr Harris said his party was proposing the least amount of spending in its manifesto, when compared to the other two parties.
He said Friday marks election day and also is the 14th anniversary of the bailout programme following the financial crash.
"People sitting at home tonight are still living with the scars of that financial crash, and we have to learn from that as a country," he said.
Ms McDonald said the financial crash was instigated and driven by Fianna Fáil, while austerity was brought by Fine Gael.
She said she would agree with Mr Harris and added: "There are people watching this programme who still the bear the scars of your crash and of your austerity."
Her party was "not going to impose austerity on people", Ms McDonald added.
Harris 'failed to step up to plate'
Addressing the controversy over his interaction with care worker Charlotte Fallon, in Kanturk, Simon Harris said he had "failed to step up to the plate".
He said his party's contact with RTÉ about coverage of the incident was "normal".
Ms McDonald said Mr Martin and Mr Harris should feel "very ashamed" over the Government's record on carers and disability.
The Sinn Féin leader said the outgoing Government did not seem "capable" of listening to people's experiences.
Asked if he felt ashamed, Mr Martin said he was not happy with the "level of progress" but said there had been advancements in some areas.
Mr Harris said the issue of disability is something he has been passionate about his entire life.
He said there needed to be a radical expansion of training places for occupational therapy and speech and language therapy.
Watch: 10 key moments from the leaders' debate
