‘Pick-pocket’ Howlin chides ‘venomous’ Mary Lou

The proposed new Croke Park pay squeeze provoked angry scenes in the Dáil as Public Expenditure Minister Brendan Howlin was branded a “pick- pocket” by Sinn Féin.

The party’s deputy leader Mary Lou McDonald accused the Cabinet of hypocrisy for hitting low-paid workers hard while continuing to pay themselves extravagant salaries.

Mr Howlin retaliated by saying Ms McDonald was “venomous” and engaging in “shabby abuse” of trade union negotiators.