Sinn Féin has hit out at Fine Gael and accused the party of trying to distract from the issue of the human right to water.

Sinn Féin MEP Lynn Boylan made the announcement ahead of a vote today, Tuesday, in the European Parliament on the Right2Water campaign.

She said: "In true Fine Gael fashion, instead of supporting the wishes of the Irish people or the 1.8 million who signed the ECI, they and their political group in Europe have rode roughshod over the key demands of the people and instead have presented an alternative motion.

-- Advertisement --

"This motion clearly ignores the demands of the Right2Water campaign and indeed deletes any mention of the water affordability issues people have experienced due to austerity measures across the EU.

"Given the leaks we have seen over the last 24hrs from Eurostat about the privatisation plans for Irish Water, is it any surprise that the Fine Gael/EPP report deletes the reference to the Troika and its pushing for the privatisation of water services in programme countries such as Greece and Portugal."

(CD/JP)