Fianna Fáil and the Progressive Democrats today defended their record in Government by saying they had "kept faith with commitments made".
Publishing a progress report detailing the Government's evaluation of its first year in office, the Government said it was keeping to its pre-election pledges in a number of areas.
The 80-page report says despite global instability the Government has kept spending within target and was pursuing the right policies for sustaining economic growth.
It also claimed to have kept its commitment of putting health first - detailing a 12 per cent increase in funding for the service.
However, the report makes no mention of the recent hospital bed closures and cutbacks across the State.
Mr Ahern said while most major economies were experiencing negative conditions, the Irish economy was continuing to grow. He said: "Our record is still extraordinarily good."
When asked why the report had failed to mention the recent spate of hospital bed closures, Mr Ahern said there were structural issues still to be addressed but said expenditure in the sector had increased.
He said: "The indisputable facts show that in the work of the past year, we have not only kept faith, in a difficult period, with commitments made; but measure for measure, step by step, we are providing a solid foundation for Ireland's future.
"After listening to the concerns of the people and responding to them, we secured the passing of the Nice Treaty," Mr Ahern continued. "Our reaffirmed commitment to Europe is now more transparent and more accountable.
"We have cracked down, as we said we would, on the carnage on our roads. Penalty points are working and are ensuring that safe drivers are being rewarded with lower insurance costs," he added.
The Tánaiste said full employment in Ireland had been sustained so far. "This was a strategic priority of the coalition when we agreed our programme last year," Ms Harney said.
But Fine Gael leader Mr Enda Kenny immediately shot down the Government document saying the first 12 months of the Government's performance was marked by a "litany of broken promises, mismanaged finances and a raft of new stealth taxes that hit hardest when your income is lowest.
"This Government certainly landed running, but unfortunately it was in the opposite direction to that which they had promised. Anyone looking back on the first year of this Government's performance will remember several particular low points," Mr Kenny added.
Mr Kenny made particular reference to the introduction of restrictions to Freedom of Information requests, rising Irish consumer prices, rising crime rates and increasing hospital waiting lists.
"One year on, the hypocrisy of the Government is clear to the electorate and the new message from Government should now read: A Lot Spun, Less For You," he said.
Labour Party leader, Mr Pat Rabbitte, described the exercise as "pointless".
Mr Rabbitte said the Government knew it had "conned" the electorate and was "performing badly".
He said current Government policy was driving inflation and had done little to reduce hospital waiting lists.
"The people know they were conned," he said.
Sinn Féin's leader in the Dáil, Mr Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin, said: "The Government cannot disguise the broken pledges and flawed policy decisions of the past year," the Cavan-Monaghan TD said.
"They claim this is a one-year audit of a five-year programme. They would like us to forget they have been in office not for one year but for six," he said.
