Minister says brother can wield budget axe ‘indiscriminately’

CRITICISM of Government budgetary policy usually comes from the Opposition.

However, junior minister Conor Lenihan departed from the script yesterday when saying his brother, Finance Minister Brian Lenihan, sometimes wields the axe “indiscriminately” on departmental budgets.

The junior minister with responsibility for science, technology and innovation said that when it came to defending the budget for research and development, it did not matter that he was Brian Lenihan’s brother.