The Transport Minister Shane Ross is being dubbed 'Trumpesque like' by the leader of the Labour Party.

Mr Ross is under fire for not making appointments to State Boards, and embarking on a row with the judiciary.

Brendan Howlin says while Minister Ross is not the danger to the world that Donald Trump is, he is not doing his job.

"He seems to believe that it's best to have distraction, so he's now Trumpesque like - showing us that if you point to somebody else's issues that you can distract from your own".

"So having no additional money for sport or for transport in his own budget, he can still criticise the judges - and that will be a distraction that we can all look away from", he added.

It comes after the Fianna Fáil leader Micheal Martin accused Mr Ross of undermining the independence of judges.

His comments follow criticism by the Chief Justice Susan Denham that the position of judges is being misrepresented.

Minister Ross claimed that the judiciary was holding up the introduction of a judicial council - which judges have actually been seeking for years.

Mrs Justice Denham told National Judges Conference judges themselves have been requesting a change in the judicial appointments system.