Tánaiste Simon Harris has defended the Fine Gael video which questions the work of presidential candidate Catherine Connolly as a barrister during the economic crash.
He said he has no regrets about this when asked on his way into Cabinet as he criticised the Independent presidential candidate.
“No, what I’ve regret about is we have a presidential candidate who won’t answer questions,” Mr Harris said.
He said he fully understands the role of a barrister, but added that it is important people “are consistent in terms of their public utterances.”
“There are lines quoted in the national media today in a national newspaper from people in Galway that describe one of our presidential candidates as ruthless and relentless in her pursuit of family homes.
“I can’t answer that, you can’t answer that, it would be really good if she answered that.”
Latest Presidential Election stories
He said there will be an opportunity for her to answer these questions during tonight’s debate on RTÉ’s Prime Time.
Mr Harris also said it is a “much narrower field” between the two candidates than people expected.
He said Irish people take their vote “very seriously” and are thinking things through.
Yesterday, Fine Gael candidate Heather Humphreys again accused her opponent of double standards for representing banks as a barrister in repossession cases while criticising them as an elected representative.
Ms Connolly has said that the ongoing negativity surrounding the presidential campaign had given her more “steel”.
Speaking on Midwest radio in Mayo, she described herself as more resolved than ever to represent the welfare of the people of Ireland if elected president.
She said she represented lots of different people, different associations and organisations when she worked professionally as a barrister.
Ms Connolly said that it was necessary to distinguish between a policy of the government that was “appalling in the past and continues to allow evictions” and the actual work of the courts.
She said that they were two independent systems, and that identifying her with the client was unacceptable.