by Alan Jacques
NEWLY elected Sinn Féin TD for Limerick City Maurice Quinlivan has expressed his disappointment at Fianna Fáil for voting with the outgoing government to prevent a Dáil motion from his party to debate the scrapping of water charges.
According to Deputy Quinlivan, Fianna Fáil’s decision to side with the outgoing government in the blocking of this motion, shows that they are wedded to the same stale politics.
“Fianna Fáil, in the first meaningful vote on the management of Dáil business, on the first day of the 32nd Dáil, voted with the government to block the Sinn Féin proposal to take a motion on the scrapping of water charges,” Deputy Quinlivan told the Limerick Post.
“It was a sharp reminder of where Fianna Fáil stand on the issue of domestic charges. They are not opposed to water charges in principal. During the election campaign, they attempted to sidestep the core issue by labelling Irish Water as a red line issue, while only committing to the suspension of water charges,” he added.
Quinlivan also pointed out that the majority of TDs elected to the new Dáil stood on an anti-water charges platform.
“Unfortunately Fianna Fáil, despite its election rhetoric, sided with Fine Gael to block a motion which was aimed facilitating a debate on a measure which the Irish people have demanded — the abolition of domestic water charges.
“Fianna Fáil have done a great deal of talking about renewal and learning from their mistakes but it is clear that they haven’t changed much from when they agreed to water charges under the first memorandum of understanding with the Troika.”
Deputy Quinlivan insists that Fianna Fáil cannot be trusted to deliver the on the demand for the complete scrapping of water charges and the abolition of Irish Water.
