Fianna Fáil has been accused of "delaying" the work of the Oireachtas Water Committee.

Kildare South TD and Chair of the Fine Gael Parliamentary Party, Martin Heydon, said in voting with the hard left to invite an interest group, 'Right2Water', into the Committee, Fianna Fáil is holding up the work.

Mr Heydon said: "When the Oireachtas Water Committee was set up, Minister Coveney ensured it had a full representation of the Houses of the Oireachtas. Accordingly all view points on water are represented on this Committee through the work of public representatives. The mandate we have is to hear from experts in the field and come to a consensus on the basis of fact. We do not need interest groups wielding agendas, be it on the pro or anti water charges side of the debate, coming in to tell us what we already know their position to be.

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"Fine Gael representatives have been working hard on this Committee to come to a consensus with our Oireachtas colleagues. It is in the public interest that we complete our work in an efficient and timely manner and today's vote to bring in Right2Water will simply result in time wasting. It is a shame that Fianna Fáil has contributed to this delay in the work of the Water Committee."

(CD/MH)