Varadkar claims Opposition's 'spend more' policies would create another crisis

The Taoiseach has hit out at opposition parties, saying many of their policies would create another recession.

Leo Varadkar said many proposals that he is seeing are the same ones that were proposed during the Celtic Tiger.

The Taoiseach was addressing the Seanad earlier for the first time.

He said: "We're starting to hear the same stuff again that we used to hear before the last crisis - spend more, spend more, spend more on everything...97% mortgages provided by the State proposed by the leader of one party, tax breaks for developers proposed by the spokesperson of another party.

"That terrifies me...All around me I'm hearing all the same demands for all the same policies that landed us in the crisis in the first place."

Last autumn, Fianna Fáil has suggested that VAT should be cut to 9% for three years and development levies should be reduced to encourage more building.