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Fianna F\u00e1il leader Miche\u00e1l Martin has insisted his party has the candidates to lead Ireland through the next round of Brexit negotiations.<\/p>\nFianna F\u00e1il leader Miche\u00e1l Martin has insisted his party has the candidates to lead Ireland through the next round of Brexit negotiations.<\/p>\n
Mr Martin\u2019s party has been in a confidence and supply arrangement with Fine Gael for the past four years.<\/p>\n
Fine Gael has sought to make its role in Brexit negotiations a key part of its re-election strategy.<\/p>\n
Speaking in Dublin on Wednesday, Mr Martin defended his candidates after Fine Gael leader Leo Varadkar said his \u201cBrexit team\u201d \u2013 including Simon Coveney and Helen McEntee \u2013 should remain in place.<\/p>\n
Mr Martin said the experience of Mr Varadkar\u2019s team in the first phase of Brexit talks does not put Fianna F\u00e1il at a disadvantage, and cited his own role as a former foreign minister.<\/p>\n
He said: \u201cHelen McEntee did not have experience before she became a minister for state. There are many ministers in new governments who are ministers for the first time. That is a natural phenomenon in politics.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t buy that somehow Fine Gael are incredibly superior beings and everyone else is of an inferior quality.\u201d<\/p>\n
He also said Sinn Fein policies do not \u201chang together on a lot of fronts\u201d.<\/p>\n
He said some of SF\u2019s financial proposals amount to \u201cfunny money\u201d, and there is no way they can deliver a lot of what they are promising.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are the only party which has detailed the costs of every promise,\u201d Mr Martin said.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs we come to the final days of this campaign, Fine Gael has still failed to provide the funding details for 80% of its promises and Sinn F\u00e9in for 75% of its promises, and I welcome last night\u2019s debate because the scrutiny they have received will mean more serious questions are arising about their promises.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mr Martin said Fianna F\u00e1il would put more resources into education and added that he regretted education had not come up much during the campaign.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe want to reduce class sizes, have targeted support for special needs, and for disadvantaged schools. We\u2019re the only party which wants to tackle the funding emergency which is undermining our third level sector.<\/p>\n
\u201cEducation has been one of the passions of my public life. It is the absolute foundation for social and economic progress. We need\u2026 a commitment to making our education system more inclusive, to improving funding and supporting our teachers and lecturers.\u201d<\/p>\n