Joan Burton has labelled the new Social Democrat party as “The New Troika in Town”.

The new party consists of Stephen Donnelly, Catherine Murphy and Burton’s former Labour colleague Roisín Shortall, with the trio sharing leadership until at least after the next election.

Ms Burton questioned the party’s economic policies, saying they only appear to agree on water charges.

“As an economic plan I’m not sure it amounts to a lot but it does show there’s an awful lot of competing voices there, particularly at the time of the election for the next government,” Ms Burton said.

The Tánaiste also raised questions about the group’s ability to reach consensus on a platform for the election.

“Whether they can all come together and agree on a platform which will actually set out the best interests of Irish people, I think that’s more debatable.”