Responding to the publication of Fianna Fáil’s EU Election manifesto Sinn Féin MEP Matt Carthy said today;
“Fianna Fáil’s call to change the fiscal rules is like a bad joke being played on the public given that they fully accepted the fiscal rules during the austerity era. Their change of tune is welcome but about a decade too late.
“In fact their Rainy Day Fund proposal means they don’t even want to spend what is available to the State under the rules.
“The ALDE group, which Fianna Fáil is affiliated to, want ‘better control mechanisms and more automatic sanctions on countries when the stability and growth pact is broken’. This can simply be translated to less sovereignty and stricter rules for Member States. A vote for Fianna Fail policies is a vote for an on-going crisis in health and housing for forever and a day.
“This is why we need to elect Sinn Féin MEPs in the upcoming election. We need MEPs who will stand for a social Europe over a right wing Europe, MEPs who will stand up for Ireland’s neutrality and against the militarisation fantasies both Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil.
“On Brexit Fianna Fáil have copied and pasted many of Sinn Féin’s proposals from 2017 to ease State Aid rules, target funding and use the Globalisation Adjustment Fund to mitigate the impact of Brexit as well as ensuring continued access to EU Funding for the north.
“Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael would rather spend billions on an EU Army while Ireland is in the midst of a housing crisis, while farm payments are decreasing and while our many of our own defence forces are struggling to put food on the table.”
ENDS
