Varadkar said that Sinn Féin ministers promoting themselves handing out food parcels on Facebook was reminiscent of Donald Trump handing out toilet roll after the hurricane hit the islands in the Caribbean.
Speaking in the Dáil on Thursday, Leo Varadkar passionately discussed recent comments from Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald on minimum wage workers in Ireland, while also discussing recent Facebook posts by Sinn Féin ministers.
Varadkar’s comments came after McDonald warned against stopping the weekly Covid-19 payment, after Varadkar confirmed the pandemic payments will continue beyond June, but cannot last forever.
McDonald said: “Those of us living in the real world know that €350 a week is the bare minimum to keep a show on the road. It’s the bare minimum needed to make it to the end of the week.
“To cut this payment would be to pull the rug from under the feet of so many, and force those who can least afford it to pay for the economic fallout from this emergency.
“That such a move is even being floated at this stage suggests that Fine Gael remains out of touch with the lives of workers and families.”
In response, Varadkar condemned McDonald for being “party political”, described her comments as “so two-faced and so fundamentally dishonest” and also defended some of the decisions Fine Gael has made since the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic.
He also criticised Sinn Féin for a lack of action in the north, saying: “A government led by my party introduced a pandemic unemployment payment of €350 a week, so that people who lost their jobs had some sort of financial security.
“What happened in Northern Ireland, where Sinn Féin is in office? £100 a week, nothing for the self-employed until June.”
Varadkar went on to compare the actions of some unnamed Sinn Féin ministers to Donald Trump, referencing one of his more infamous acts since he took office.
“Sinn Féin ministers on their Facebook site promote the fact that they hand out food parcels to the poor, reminiscent to me of Donald Trump handing out toilet roll after the hurricane hit the islands in the Caribbean.”
Varadkar was referring to an incident where Donald Trump threw toilet roll at people in Puerto Rico who had been affected by a hurricane.
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