Brendan Howlin warns ‘hung’ Dáil may spark second financial crash

There is a real prospect of a ‘hung’ Dáil and a period of political instability which could give rise to a second economic crash, Public Expenditure Minister Brendan Howlin has warned.

As the outgoing coalition saw a further slump in the polls, the Labour minister stressed that a political vacuum and the need for a second election could cost the State hundreds of millions of euro and therefore reduce funds available for public services.

In an interview with the Irish Examiner, he said the country could be left with no stable government — as has happened in Spain and Portugal — and it would be “more painful” to reconstruct our economy a second time.