Varadkar turns on his own

FINE Gael frontbencher Leo Varadkar has made stinging criticisms of former party leader Garret FitzGerald. Mr Varadkar likened Taoiseach Brian Cowen to Dr FitzGerald yesterday, saying both men had allowed the national debt spiral out of control during their time in office.

The Fine Gael TD was addressing the Dáil on the subject of the Cabinet reshuffle announced earlier by Mr Cowen. Mr Varadkar claimed the Taoiseach had “botched” it.

“It is the worst reshuffle since Garret FitzGerald’s botched reshuffle of 1986. Fás, which is the mosttroubled agency in this country and needs a minister to fix it, is divided among three departments,” Mr Varadkar said. “There will be no oversight and we know each of the ministers will pass the buck to each other. There will be a corporate governance nightmare.”