‘Nasty comments that are politically motivated’.

The response of the Tánaiste to the latest suggestions that she’s not up to the job of Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment.

On a TV programme last night an audience member claimed there was a “cringe factor” to her representation of the country abroad.

And in the Dáil this afternoon Fine Gael’s Leo Varadkar highlighted a newspaper report suggesting the IDA is embarassed by her and claimed that the language she uses is often inappropriate and vulgar.

But Mary Coughlan wasn’t impresed.