Tánaiste Simon Harris has said he was being "shouted down by a bully" during a heated Dáil exchange with Sinn Féin's finance spokesperson Pearse Doherty.
Speaking during Leaders' Questions, Mr Doherty said the cost of living crisis is out of control and that even working households with two incomes cannot keep up.
"You sit there and you do nothing," he told Mr Harris during a heated Dáil exchange.
"The budget looked after those at the top with tax breaks but there was nothing for ordinary workers," Mr Doherty said.
"Why people are so annoyed is because you have decided to leave workers worse off.
"You’re the guy who is misrepresenting the public, who is misleading the public over and over again.
"You have prioritised those at the top, and you have royally screwed workers that you promised before the election that you would look after. Another promise broken."
He urged the Government to change course because targeted measures are no longer enough.
The Tánaiste accused Sinn Féin of continually misrepresenting the budget.
Mr Harris said he was being "shouted down by a bully".
"You’re a bully, and you shout down people in this house. You're a bully, and your bully boy tactics won’t work with me," he said.
"We took a decision to reduce the cost of building an apartment so that more apartments are built," he said.
"You’ve let the mask slip again today that you don’t believe there’s measures needed to make house-building more viable in terms of apartments. We’re taking those decisions.
"You will not support the decisions we’re taking to make a real difference in terms of housing supply. When we see those extra homes built in the years ahead, young people across this country will benefit from that.
"You will continue to shout, roar and offer nothing constructive to this country because that’s what bully boys do."
The Tánaiste contended that when people look back at the budget they will see that it will made a real difference when it comes to building homes and improving public services.
He said the majority of the budget was directed towards improving services.
