Brian Hayes hits out at ‘cut-and-paste’ Sinn Féin budget

Junior finance minister and European election candidate Brian Hayes is standing over his assertion that Sinn Féin’s budget proposals were based on a "cut-and-paste job" rather than proposals costed by his department.

This is despite a letter showing that the department undertook a “costing” exercise of Sinn Féin’s proposals for spending cuts and tax increases in the run-up to the budget last October.

Sinn Féin’s economic policies have come under scrutiny in the final days of campaigning for an election in which it is poised to make major gains.