Following his Ard Fheis address in the RDS last night, Fianna Fáil leader Micheal Martin spoke today with Shane Coleman on the Sunday Show.

On poll results 

"It would be very foolish of the party to work through the renewal and the preparation for the general election on the basis of monthly opinion polls."

"We're confident we will win significant extra seats."

"Sinn Féin were ahead of us in the polls at the local elections and we beat them by 10 per cent.".

"The bottom line is that... local elections do help parties to create a platform and additional competition within the party in terms of the quality of candidates."

On policies and John McGuinness' criticism

"We believe the USC should be the priority for reduction... It couldn't be removed in lifetime of next government, but certainly reductions could happen."

"We were very clear on the principles of our health policy."

"This government... fraudulently under-provided for health in the budgets."

"We need to keep the focus on patients and services."

"I've met with John and he's said there's absolutely no issue with my leadership."

On the 8th amendment

"Going into the general election, we're not proposing changing or removing article 43.3."

"It's not that simple that you could [legislate] for one aspect of the spectrum in terms of fatal foetal abnormalities and other issues."

On Sinn Féin

"The degree to which they undermine others is quite significant across the political landscape."

"Clearly I touched a chord with where the members of the party are in relation to Sinn Féin IRA... they're not going to allow them and the project that Sinn Féin have to camouflage their own despicable deeds by trying to create this historical continuity argument that they're the true inheritors of the flame of 1916. There is a repulsion across middle Ireland to that kind of approach."

On Siterserv

"I think [Kenny] was [misleading the Dáil]. And I think he was running a mile from the issue. "

"He has a habit of saying things... that don't have substance, but he says it to get beyond... the immediacy of the issue, so he can scramble together some response.

"We've now moved... to an incredible situation where the government are suggesting that the company that was involved in advising on the sale of Sitserv will now be the company that investigate that."

"You never appoint the people who were actually involved in a deal."

"I would ask the Minister for Finance and the Taoiseach to publish the share register to do with Siteserv in the month in advance of its sale."

"We need a commission of investigation... with statutory backing... It has to be independent."

"The terms of reference Michael Noonan set are too narrow. He's narrowed it deliberately I think to get the result he wants."

 Listen to the interview in full below: