Fine Gael leader Simon Harris has said his party is in a position to do "very well" in the General Election.
Mr Harris topped the poll in Wicklow on the first count with 16,869 first-preference votes - well above the 11,415 quota.
He said that in 26 of the 43 constituencies, Fine Gael did not have a sitting TD on the ballot, but was still seeing gains.
However, he said it was still too "hard to call" who will come out of the election as the largest party.
He told RTÉ: "I think we're in a position to do very well in this election. It's far too hard to call at this stage as to who will come out as the largest party.
"But what is clear, is that Fine Gael, Fianna Fáil and Sinn Féin will be tightly bunched when it comes to final seats."
In relation to government formation, Mr Harris said it was "far too early" for talks on coalitions, but that there would be "plenty of time" for them to take place in the weeks ahead.
Speaking to reporters at the Wicklow count centre, he said there had not "been a Sinn Fein surge or anything like it".
Mr Harris said: "I think that's what we've seen, a very close and very competitive election, but certainly we haven't seen a Sinn Fein surge or anything like it.
"I mean, it looks likely, on the figures that we've seen now, fewer people, many fewer people would have voted Sinn Fein in this election than the last one.
"In fact, I think they're down by around 5% and actually the parties, particularly the two parties, the two larger parties in government, are likely to receive significant support from the electorate. So definitely, politics in Ireland has gotten much more fragmented."
Fine Gael's Jennifer Carroll MacNeill became the first TD to be elected in the country when she topped the poll in Dún Laoghaire on the first count.
She won the first of four seats, exceeding the quota of 11,134 by 550 votes.
Patrick O'Donovan was the second Fine Gael TD elected this afternoon, exceeding the quota of 11, 385 with 11,563 first preference votes in the three-seater Limerick County constituency.
Fine Gael's deputy leader Helen McEntee looks set to top the poll in Meath East with a 19% share of first preference votes based on tallies.
Ms McEntee said she should be elected by the second count and thanked her supporters.
She said there were constituencies where her party were "facing an uphill battle", but added that there are some areas where they look set to regain seats.
She told RTÉ: "I think overall if you look at the fact that we went into this election with just 17 sitting TDs, we've obviously quite a number of people resigning after a very lengthy time in politics, we're potentially going to come back with 20 new TDs, so in and around the same as the last time, but at the same time gaining some seats compared to the last time."
Minister for Public Expenditure Paschal Donohoe said the main theme of the election was "one of the centre holding", describing Sinn Fein as "the weakest opposition party in Europe".
He told reporters at the RDS in Dublin: "I think we're on the verge of a very, very positive election for the party and a very, very strong electoral performance."
On the potential election of Gerard Hutch in his constituency, he said: "I think it's worth noting that the vast majority of people in Dublin Central have not voted for him, and the vast majority of voters in Dublin Central have chosen to put their votes behind other candidates and we will have to reflect in due course regarding why he performed like he did, but the big picture today is one of the centre holding, that's the big picture.
"The big picture is, at a time in which incumbent governments all over Europe are struggling to get re-elected, the two larger parties within this government, in particular Fine Gael, are going to deliver a very strong performance."
Additional reporting PA
