The finance minister has lashed out at Sinn Féin's economic plan - saying it would "destroy the economy".
Michael Noonan says opposition parties are now prepared to squander the gains the last government has made.
As Fine Gael held its first press conference of the election campaign, Noonan claimed the other parties wouldn't be able to follow up on their promises - because they won't have the money to do so:
However the Taoiseach was less keen to take questions about Fine Gael's fiscal plan, which he said would be unveiled tomorrow.
Questioned by journalists about how Fine Gael could afford its spending promises as well as setting aside a so-called 'rainy day fund', Enda Kenny said he didn't want to get bogged down in "jargon" that lay people would not understand.
But Michael Noonan's claims - that the opposition are now trying to reap rewards from the government's policies - have been matched by those of the Fianna Fáil leader Micheal Martin.
At his own first press conference he said the current government had not created the recovery - which he said was created by the policies the previous Fianna Fail administration left behind:
