Labour the 'limp tail of a rabid dog': Rowdy scenes as SF and FG clash in Dáil

There have been rowdy scenes in the Dáil between the Government and Sinn Féin over the planned sell-off of part of the ESB.

Public Expenditure Minister Brendan Howlin said the coalition was forced into the decision reluctantly because of the "extraordinary debt left by the previous Government".

Sinn Féin's Caoimhghín O'Caoláin accused Brendan Howlin of breaching the election promise of Labour to keep all strategic assets in state hands.

Both men clashed after the Government voted down a motion from Sinn Féin last night to keep the ESB in state control:

"The Labour Party in coalition has become the limp tail of a rabid dog," said Mr O'Caoláin. "It is Fine Gael who are dictating the pace and are going forward with their particular agenda and you, once again, are absolute failures."

To which Brendan Howling retaliated: "The truth is inescapable. You voted for that debt. You placed that burden on our backs."