Finance Minister Michael McGrath has said that he will not allow Fine Gael to “bully” him on what will be contained in October’s budget.
It comes amid reports that tensions are growing in the coalition over perceived “solo runs” from Fine Gael in recent days. On Monday, Junior Ministers Jennifer Carroll MacNeill, Martin Heydon and Peter Burke all called for the budget to contain tax breaks of up to €1,000.
On Tuesday, Taoiseach Leo Varadkar announced that there would be an increase in pension rates. The moves have caused anger within Fianna Fail, with some predicting major rows in the coalition over the comments.
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Mr McGrath attempted to downplay the rows, stating that the two main coalition parties are continuing to work well together. He said: “Certainly not [I won’t be bullied]. Anybody who knows me well enough will know that I can be as tough as anybody else when it comes to negotiations.
“I will always be conciliatory and polite, but I can be as firm as they need to be. I will be designing the tax package and it will be done following close consultation with all of our colleagues across Government.”
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