Kenny:
After years of cynicism and deception, I will lead a government that is accountable, that has vision and an agenda for action, writes
Enda Kenny
Tomorrow, you have a choice. In the single most important issue facing our nation - health - the Government has thrown in the towel. The Taoiseach actually said the other night that he does not accept that the health service is in crisis. He has said that people should congratulate him for the state of the health service.
On Monday night he said that health is a "peripheral" issue.
Does that sound like someone who is going to lead the charge for a better health service in the next five years? No, of course not.
If this Government can't even see the problem, there's no way they can fix it.
That will change in my government.
The reason is, I understand what needs to be done to tackle the challenges facing our country. I have an ambition for the country and a vision for where it should be in the next five and 10 years. Having a vision of a strong economy with public services to match is not enough.
To realise that vision you need an agenda for action. I have set out my agenda for action in my Contract for a Better Ireland, which lays out the fundamental building blocks of a new and better country. For too long we have seen this Government limp aimlessly forward without any direction, without any plan.
That will change in my government.
If the electorate give me a mandate to implement my agenda I know that I will use my skills to manage the right team to deliver that agenda, in the interest of the public. One of the key skills that has been sorely missing in the outgoing administration is an ability to listen to and then motivate people working with you and for you.
That will change in my government.
What has also been missing is the ability to be decisive and, critically, a glaring absence of political accountability. Millions have been wasted on PPARS and e-voting, but no-one accepts responsibility, no-one is fired. Ministers don't read their briefing notes and thousands of old-age pensioners in nursing homes suffer. But no-one accepts responsibility.
That has to change, and that will change in my government.
The government I will lead will be different, because not only do I recognise and understand the problems facing ordinary Irish people, I have a plan to solve those problems. In contrast, FF and the PDs have not offered one idea, one plan, one area in which they will change the health service.
In fact, they've run away from health as an issue for the entire election. So let's be clear: if you think the health service is good enough and that we have public services of a standard that we pay for, vote for FF and the PDs. If you think our public services in general and health service in particular must be better, vote for the FG-Labour alliance.
The message is simple. To change the health service for the better, you have to change the government.
The commitments in my contract on health will bring a transformation to our hospitals and our families. With more beds, we reduce waiting in A&Es and for critical life-saving operations. We also make our hospitals places of healing rather than infection. With properly equipped isolation units we can control the hospital-acquired infections that are plaguing our nation.
With better healthcare for our children, we will be rearing the healthiest generation our country has ever seen.
Investment now will pay immeasurable dividends in future years, both in health and the quality of their lives.
But this is not just a list of political promises. After years of cynicism about politics and politicians, after years of deception and broken promises, I believe it's time a politician stepped up to the line and took responsibility for their actions in government.
Having fulfilled my contract, and only having fulfilled my contract, will I stand again, before you, the people of Ireland, and ask you to re-elect me as taoiseach. And if I have not, I will not.
In stark contrast to Fine Gael's plans for a better Ireland, Fianna Fáil and the PDs have offered nothing but fear and falsehood and more of the same.
But if people want something different and far better - a bed and dignity in a clean hospital, free GP care and free health insurance for their children, ministers fired if they're reckless with public money - and if they want to see a tax system changed to give hardworking families extra help, then they can vote for the contract and vote for Fine Gael.
If you want politicians to be as accountable as you are in your own life, then vote for the contract and vote for Fine Gael.
Tomorrow, for the first time ever in an Irish election, people will have the chance to vote for a politician who is willing to stand up and take responsibility for their actions in government.
I am that politician.