Micheál Martin is “always either wagging the finger or sniping from the sidelines” and Fianna Fáil has not proposed “real” alternatives to Government policy, Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has said.
Mr Varadkar was responding to criticism from Mr Martin, who accused the Taoiseach of “goading” Fianna Fáil and of being “immature” and “childish”.
In a speech last week, the Taoiseach questioned if Mr Martin would have been as eager to extend the confidence-and-supply agreement which underpins the Fine Gael led minority government if Fianna Fáil was ahead in the polls.
Mr Martin last December extended the deal, which sees Fianna Fáil abstain on budget and confidence votes, for an additional fourth budget, one more than initially envisaged. He cited continuing uncertainty over Brexit for his decision.
At the Fianna Fáil ardfheis, Mr Martin criticised some of the language Mr Varadkar had used on Brexit, saying the Taoiseach’s comments about the US Congress blocking a post-Brexit trade deal with Britain over the Border issue as “ inappropriate right now”.
Speaking on a visit to Egypt, Mr Varadkar responded to Mr Martin’s criticisms by saying: “That’s politics and that’s Micheál Martin. He’s always either wagging the finger or sniping from the sidelines.
“But what I haven’t seen from Fianna Fáil, from their ardfheis or from anything in the past couple of months, is any coherent policies or any real alternative to what the Government has done. Lots of finger-wagging, no substance of policy, no alternative.”
