Voters delivered 'harsh' verdict and are 'impatient' for change - Simon Coveney

Tánaiste Simon Coveney has described the verdict of voters as “harsh” and a result of the public being “impatient” for more housing and a better health service.
Housing and health were the key issues of the “hugely disappointing” election, he told RTÉ’s Today with Sean O’Rourke.
“Undoubtedly, they were the two big issues of the campaign and people were impatient for progress and an improvement to public services in both of those areas,” he said.
Mr Coveney said the electorate had voted for something more radical in the belief it could be delivered quicker, adding that he wasn’t sure it could.
“I accept that not enough has happened in the minds of the electorate and the public to be satisfied with the government’s performance in both of those areas,” he said.
Fine Gael, he believed, had made a credible case about having made significant progress on the housing crisis.
But he said the election campaign “got away from us” in the first couple of weeks and it was “everyone against the government party”.
“This undoubtedly was an election where Fine Gael didn’t connect with the electorate in the way we wanted to.”
Mr Coveney said: “I’m not going to sugar-coat anything here - this was a bad election for Fine Gael. We’ll recover from it, learn from it, listen to what people have had to say and bounce back.”
Asked if Leo Varadkar should continue as party leader, Mr Coveney said he should.
“I think actually he has done a really good job as Taoiseach, even though the verdict of the people was a harsh one, and one we need to accept,” he added.
Mr Coveney again ruled out a coalition between his party and Sinn Féin saying it would result in “a lot of clashes”. “It is primarily about policy,” he added.