There were tetchy scenes in the Dáil on Thursday afternoon as Tánaiste Leo Varadkar compared Sinn Féin and Pearse Doherty to Liz Truss’ failed Tory Government.
Referencing the former beleaguered Chancellor of the Exchequer Kwasi Kwarteng, the Fine Gael leader said that it would take Sinn Féin one Budget to “wreck the economy” under “Kwasi Doherty”.
Mr Kwarteng was forced to stand down from his role shortly after his mini-Budget caused the UK market and the value of the pound to plummet.
During Leaders' Questions, Mr Doherty asked if the Government would introduce mortgage relief to counteract expected mortgage interest rate increases by the European Central Bank.
The debate took place shortly before it was confirmed that interest rates would rise by 0.75%. The hikes are being introduced in a bid to curb inflation, which is currently running at 8.2% in Ireland.
Mr Doherty told the Dáil that tracker mortgage holders would be the worst affected by the hikes and mortgage interest relief should be introduced for these customers.
Mr Varadkar said that while he would “love to bring back the relief” he “cannot make those types of promises”, noting that it was previously introduced when interest rates were much higher.
The Tánaiste then accused Sinn Féin of “populism”, noting that the party “had learned nothing” from measures taken by the Tory Government in the UK.
He expressed concern that Sinn Féin would “wreck the economy” under “Kwasi Doherty”.
“It seems you have learned nothing from what happened across the water,” Mr Varadkar said.
“You spent the last few months calling for a mini-Budget. After that, you called for a limitless energy price cap.
“We see that turned out in the United Kingdom. Now you have another set of populist promises to take advantage of people who have tracker mortgages.
“When are you going to learn from what has happened across the water?
“What the UK has done, which they’re now reversing, is exactly what Sinn Féin proposed.
“I used to think it would take two years for Sinn Féin to wreck our economy.
“I think it would take one Budget by Kwasi Doherty to do all the damage.”
The comments from Mr Varadkar caused anger on the Sinn Féin benches, as Mr Doherty said that the Tories were Fine Gael’s “sister party”.
Another Sinn Féin TD said that the party was the “Tories’ soulmates”.
Earlier, Mr Varadkar said that while he accepted that the interest rates would be unwelcome news for mortgage holders, it would lead to house prices being “contained” or lowering.
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