Former minister for finance Brian Lenihan has said he had to provide much of the leadership in the last government when the then taoiseach Brian Cowen failed to do so.
Mr Lenihan said he was "disappointed" in Mr Cowen and that the latter's failure to communicate meant Mr Lenihan had to provide it "along with everything else."
"I had a good working relationship with Brian Cowen around the cabinet table but I was disappointed," he said in an interview with the Community Voice newspaper, which was given at the Dublin West count centre as votes were being counted.
"I felt that when he was elected taoiseach he would give a stronger lead and express himself in a more forthright way about the problems facing the country. I felt that I had to give a lot of that lead and give those forthright expressions myself along with everything else," he said.
Mr Lenihan said he did not challenge Mr Cowen for the leadership because the country was in "very choppy waters" and any political move of his could have destabilised the country and its finances. "It was a terrible constraint to be operating under."
Mr Lenihan said he had "no regrets" over his time as minister for finance.
"It was the worst economic crash Ireland ever faced and in my defence I can say that I stabilised the ship and kept the ship afloat. That's all I could do," he said. "I think it's tremendous now that after this election we will have a new government. I think that's very important because it will allow us to move on as a people."
Former Fianna Fáil minister Willie O'Dea said Mr Lenihan "knew what was going on" and he respected his views.
"He was around the cabinet table when I wasn't there. He knew what was going on. If that's what he felt I respect that," he told RTÉ's News at One programme.