TAOISEACH Leo Varadkar has slapped down one of his own ministers saying their comments about the Green Party were unhelpful. Mr Varadkar was responding to comments from Fine Gael junior minister John Paul Phelan who said some members of the Green Party "openly hate private property and free enterprise". Mr Phelan was responding to an old tweet from Green Party TD and negotiator Neasa Hourigan who suggested Fine Gael TDs had a "personal interest" in keeping rents high as some of them were landlords. He said the three parties have entered talks "on the basis of good faith and all three parties want those to succeed". “I don't favour cutting pay or increasing taxes or cutting back on pre-existing spending programmes.

Source: Irish Independent May 13, 2020 14:37 UTC