Labour Party leader Pat Rabbitte this morning said the television debate between the Taoiseach Bertie Ahern and Fine Gael leader Enda Kenny was a "boring, score draw".
Speaking at a school in west Dublin this morning, Mr Rabbitte said that his potential partner in Government Enda Kenny had given an "assured" performance during last night's leaders' debate.
The Fine Gael leader needed to show that he could be taoiseach and he had achieved that, Mr Rabbitte said.
However, he added: "I thought it was a bit boring to be honest. I would have made it a score draw at the end of the night".
"People want to know who's going to build the schools, who is going to provide affordable childcare and who is going to provide the rail link from here and Kildare and other places. On that it seems to me that Enda Kenny won hands down," Mr Rabbitte added.
Mr Ahern and Mr Kenny clashed over health, crime and the economy in their head-to-head debate.
Mr Kenny made a confident start to the debate, but Mr Ahern later rallied to pick holes in the alternative coalition's policies on health and taxes. Both camps immediately claimed victory and predicted electoral swings in their favour in advance of polling day.
Mr Ahern said the country had been transformed since he took over, that the economy was strong and 600,000 more people were working. He also stressed that he had worked hard and came from an ordinary working-class background.
Mr Kenny rejected a claim that he had little experience for the job compared to previous party leaders. He said he had had a "long apprenticeship", and that "leadership is about decisiveness" and having a vision and ability to "pick your team".