Sinn Féin has defended its social welfare policy during a heated debate.

The party's spokesperson on agriculture Matt Carthy and Philip Ryan, political editor with the Irish Independent, went head to head on The Pat Kenny Show.

The two got into a debate over what Sinn Féin have or have not put forward in their policy.

Deputy Carthy denied his party was calling for Jobseekers Allowance to increase by €50.

"That's not Sinn Féin's call, just to be clear on that.

"Last year in our pre-budget submission, we sought an increase of €10 - because the increase that the Government did provide of €5 was gone by, essentially, the time that it came into place in terms of the higher costs".

Mr Ryan than quoted a submission Sinn Féin made to the Commission on Taxation.

"For a single person who's living alone, that should be set at €251.82.

"They also say this should be a baseline for setting welfare rates, in their own document".

The debate continued from there:

Listen back to the full segment below: