Fianna Fáil leader Micheál Martin should "stand up and tell us what he would do to run the country and stop taking cheap shots", according to Government Chief Whip Regina Doherty.

"At every opportunity he has taken a pop at Fine Gael and Fine Gael ministers. I would love if he would tell us how they would run the country, given how they wrecked it," she told RTE's Morning Ireland on Monday.

Ms Doherty said she was “not going to play that game” of responding every time he was quoted saying something negative about Fine Gael.

“Micheál Martin needs to stop with his spin,” she said.

Minister for Social Protection Leo Varadkar hit back after Mr Martin criticised him for being "PR-obsessed" during his tenure as minister for health.

Mr Varadkar compared Mr Martin’s comments to the “invective more typical of [US presidential candidate Donald] Trump”.

During his speech on Sunday at the annual Fianna Fáil Wolfe Tone commemoration in Bodenstown, Co Kildare, Mr Martin had criticised the Government's handling of the health services.

The Fianna Fáil leader, who is a former minister for health, claimed the “huge increase in hospital waiting lists has been met with near silence by Government.

“The replacement of one PR-obsessed minister with a more careful successor [in Simon Harris] has simply confirmed that the Government has no health policy.”

Afterwards, he told reporters that Mr Varadkar’s tenure in health was dominated by public relations, with “little of substance” achieved.

On Sunday evening, Mr Varadkar said: “Micheál Martin has nothing to offer than mischaracterisation of Fine Gael and cheap shots at other politicians.

“He should have used his Bodenstown speech to offer a vision of the future worthy of Tone, rather than invective more typical of Trump.”

Unfair

Ms Doherty also defended Minister for Jobs Mary Mitchell O’Connor on Monday, saying recent criticism of her was unfair and would not have been written about a man.

“She is ambitious, she is working 24/7, she is doing the best she can.”

When asked about the Fine Gael leadership race, she said she had "so much confidence" in Enda Kenny and his ability to steer the country through the difficult times ahead.

“I hope he’s around to see the Pope,” she said.

Kenny gaining momentum

Mr Kenny is gaining momentum and people are beginning to like him again, maintains the Government’s deputy chief whip, Kevin ‘Boxer’ Moran.

“When Enda Kenny steps down is a matter for him and for Fine Gael,” the Independent Alliance TD said.

Mr Moran admitted that he had found it “tough” to get to know Fine Gael TDs when he was elected to the Dáil, “but now we have a great relationship, especially the Taoiseach, Leo, Simon, and Richard Bruton.”

He said that Minister for Finance Michael Noonan had been “a godsend” to him. “I’ve learned a lot from him.”

The “slowness” of Government had surprised him, he said. “I’m always in a hurry.”

The Longford-Westmeath TD spoke of his “excellent relationship” with the Taoiseach. “Enda Kenny called down to Athlone to see how we were keeping the water out during the last floods.

“I asked him to come down and he did. We put him in a hut, we kept the media out and for an hour we explained to him what was happening.

"We both wanted to do something about what was happening," he told RTE's Today with Sean O'Rourke show.

Mr Moran said he appreciated Mr Kenny making that effort.

He added that he was not in politics to become a minister ,“I just want to make a difference in people’s lives,” he said.