Taoiseach lets loose in the Dáil at ‘two-faced Mary Lou’

THE Taoiseach branded Mary Lou McDonald ‘twofaced’ and ‘dishonest’ in the Dáil yesterday after the Sinn Féin leader tried to take him to task over the possibility of a reduction in the Covid-19 social welfare payment.

He also said Sinn Féin members promoting themselves by handing out food parcels on Facebook was reminiscent of Donald Trump handing out toilet roll after the hurricane hit the islands in the Caribbean.

Leo Varadkar was referring to Sinn Fein’s leader in the North, Michelle O’Neill, handing out ‘food parcels to the poor’. He said he would be ‘ashamed’ to ‘boast’ about giving out food parcels.

‘What we do not do is post on Facebook pictures of our ministers visiting them and handing out food to the poor,’ he said.

The row erupted when Ms

‘Fundamentally dishonest’

McDonald questioned Mr Varadkar on whether he would commit to extending the €350-aweek Pandemic Unemployment Payment while citing the ‘slash and burn’ policies she believes Fine Gael inflicted on the Irish people after the last recession.

She said that the suggestion of cutting off the payments sent a ‘shiver down the spines’ of families still suffering from the ‘mean-spirited’ cuts implemented by Fine Gael in the last election. Ms McDonald added that Fine Gael were in power during the following; minimum wage being ‘slashed’, ‘numerous cuts’ to child benefits and ‘profound’ damage being done to the housing and healthcare systems.

All the while, allowing for ‘tax breaks for the vested interests and massive payouts for bondholders’.

The Taoiseach committed to extending the Covid-19 payment to ‘beyond June’ but said the timeline and rates were uncertain. He said Ms McDonald’s speech was ‘two-faced and so fundamentally dishonest’.

He defended his party and insisted that his party never ‘cut the minimum wage’ and increased it by 25% when they were in power with Labour.

The Fine Gael leader went on to attack Sinn Féin’s record in the North, where the unemployment payment is £100 a week.

He said: ‘Do not blame it on the Tories and do not blame it on London. If it was not for their money, it would be even worse.’