A Green Party TD that refused to back the proposed government deal last night has said he wants to hear from members before deciding.
Four of the members of the Greens parliamentary party abstained from a vote on the programme for government last night.
Nine representatives voted in favour and the deal will now be sent to the wider party membership for approval.
On Newstalk Breakfast this morning, Dublin South Central TD Patrick Costello said he wanted that debate to happen before throwing his weight behind the deal.
He said the deal contains a “lot of really positive things” in the document; however, there are other parts that are “causing concern among our members.”
“The question that needs to be asked is did we get the balance right between our own policies and other polices.
“I think that is something we need to discuss among ourselves and our memberships now and decide going forward.
“For me, it was about facilitating that conversation without necessarily offering my own endorsement at this point.”
Membership
Deputy Costello said he will meet with party members before deciding whether to support the deal.
"I’ll be talking to the members and weighing up my choices myself and looking at where the balance in this deal lies,” he said.
“I am still looking at the details, where this deal is and where the balance is between the positive Green Party things we have achieved and the huge issues that are of concern to my constituents.
“Have we addressed those sufficiently to make it worthwhile?”
Green politics
He said he entered politics to implement policies and admitted the Green Party will have to keep working with other parties until it starts returning 90 TDs in national elections.
“There are a lot of really positive Green Party policies in there that I think will make things better for the country if we go into government and I think there are a lot of things in there that are causing concern among our members,” he said.
“There are a variety of things in there that we have not achieved our asks on and we need to decide now among ourselves if the balance is right and if there are enough of our positive policies.”
Government deal
Earlier on the show, the Fianna Fáil health spokesperson Stephen Donnelly said the incoming government faces a ‘Herculean task’ and said party members must be given time to consider the document.
Meanwhile the Tánaiste Simon Coveney admitted the Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil partnership will be “very difficult to accept and support” for some members.
You can listen back to Deputies Costello and Donnelly here:
