Budget tension is ‘fake fight orchestrated by Fine Gael’, says Pearse Doherty

Mr Doherty also said that the government parties could not be differentiated and the budget discussions were designed to distract attention from issues such as housing

Sinn Féin finance spokesman TD Pearse Doherty said the government was orchestrating a “fake fight” in response to poor polling figures (Damien Stroan/PA)

Tensions between government parties surrounding the budget is a “fake fight” orchestrated by Fine Gael, a Sinn Féin TD has said.

In an op-ed published this week Minister of State Martin Heydon and two other Fine Gael ministers – Jennifer Carroll MacNeill and Peter Burke – called for a full-time worker on a wage of 52,000 euro to get 1,000 euro back in tax relief in the next budget.