SINN FÉIN:THE MOST critical election issue was employment, Sinn Féin Dáil leader Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin said. "We cannot protect and create jobs without strategic investment to develop infrastructure, foster enterprise and enhance public services.

“Sinn Féin has put forward a plan to do just that.”

Mr Ó Caoláin called on all parties to make clear to the EU and the IMF, and the wider international community, that the bailout deal was unacceptable, unaffordable and ruinous to the Irish economy and the people.

“It was negotiated and imposed by a discredited Government and it must be set aside,” he added.

He said the cut in the minimum wage was coming into effect on the day the Dáil was being dissolved.

“That is just one of the ways the least well-off in our society have been forced to pay for the disastrous decisions made by the outgoing Government.”

People were being impoverished so that the Government could throw money into the banking black hole.

“We in Sinn Féin are proud of the part we played in the 30th Dáil in defending people’s rights and in holding to account one of the worst governments ever seen anywhere,” he added.

His party had played a key role in finally removing the Government by exposing the full extent of its contacts with Anglo Irish Bank executives. “We have stood firm against the consensus for cuts,” Mr Ó Caoláin added.