Greens unveil new team and new plans

national | miscellaneous | news report Tuesday January 28, 2003 15:49 by Graham Caswell - Green Party caswell at indigo dot ie

Major developments in the Green Party follow last May's success

Following the tripling of their Dáil representation in last May's election the Green Party is undergoing a major expansion and re-organisation to become a more professional and effective political force in Ireland.

The Green Party unveiled its new team today at a press conference in Dublin outlining their plans for the new Dáil term and pledging a renewed and vigorous campaign for further Dáil reform.

Green Party Leader, Trevor Sargent TD, said that the Party had just appointed its first General Secretary and enhanced its support team with the appointment of a parliamentary group secretary, two researchers and a press assistant. "This is all part of an ongoing process of strategic restructuring which we started before our successful General Election results last May. The Green Party now has greater resources than before with six TDs and it is determined to use its funding to carry out research which will make our role in opposition
radical, effective and constructive."

"Our Green parliamentary team is now of a size and quality to put forward a coherent and effective challenge to each member of this reckless Government. This Government's policies continue to widen the rich-poor gap and sentence the next generation to resource shortages, the vagaries of climate change and a failing eco-system. The Greens believe in becoming the change we want to see happen. That is why each Green TD has voluntarily vacated their Local Authority seat as part of our campaign to drop the dual mandate. We have also led changes
by campaigning for a levy on plastic bags, by prioritising wind energy over fossil fuel generated power and by campaigning for a Guaranteed Basic income which led to the introduction of tax credits. Our new team and resources will now leave us in a position to give leadership in more policy areas."

"In my own area as spokesperson for Agriculture, Northern Ireland and the Gaeltacht we will be carrying out major research on, and campaigning for CAP reform and for sustainable agriculture and safe food policies; will continue to play an active role in finding solutions for the impasse in the Northern Ireland peace process, enhancing and broadening our engagement with those involved in that process."

Green Party Chairman, John Gormley, T.D., will continue to have responsibility for Health, Foreign Affairs and Defence in the forthcoming session. Mr Gormley predicted that Iraq would be the predominant issue in the coming months and said that the Green Party position had been consistent and unequivocal. "Starting this week in the Dáil we intend to put the Government under enormous pressure. We will be supporting the Independent's Private Members motion and using every parliamentary device to expose the hypocrisy of this Government."

"We also intend to revise and up-date our European policy in light of the Convention on the Future of Europe, which will lead to another Irish referendum. On 8th February the Greens will hold a special seminar in Dublin on the issue, speakers will include Dr. Garrett Fitzgerald and Danish MEP, Jens Peter Bonde. The seminar will be chaired by Senator Maurice Hayes. During this session the Greens will also be publishing a new defence policy document. In the context of the convention I will be preparing a paper for the Presidium on the subject of a European-wide referendum on the new European Constitution."

"Health covers such a wide variety of areas that the best approach is to publish specific policies and we will begin this week this week by publishing our position paper on the Accident and Emergency crisis. We will continue by publishing a new position paper every month on areas such as the re-structuring of health boards, primary care, health insurance and risk equalization. I will also be publishing a major document on water fluoridation as partof my duties as a member of the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health and Children."

Party Whip, Dan Boyle TD said that the Greens would be embarking on a renewed campaign for further Dáil reform which would include initiatives seeking more Dáil sittings, would examine proposals to reduce the size of the Dáil and would work toward making the chamber script-free. He said that the Party was sending out a challenge to all other political parties to follow the Green Party example and surrender their Local Authority seats now.

Mr. Boyle said that the Greens would continue to challenge the dodgy forecasting that has consistently underestimated tax receipts and would demand answers as to why the Government was overseeing the diminishing value of the National Pension Reserve Fund. We will also be exposing any attempt to link social welfare payments to what the Government sees as 'desirable' activity. "A particular emphasis in this term will be the visit of the National Roads Authority to the Public Accounts Committee where I will be asking the agency to justify why
certain projects were proceeded with and why costs have sky- rocketed."

Paul Gogarty TD said that he would continue to highlight the current Government's shameful response to Education. "I will be pressurising Minister Dempsey and indeed Minister McCreevy on the school building programme, on third level fees and on its commitment in general to investing in the next generation of adults. It has been pointed out by the INTO that it costs four times less to put a person fully through the education system than it does to keep them in prison, so it makes sense to invest now and reap the rewards later. The whole area of education of persons with disabilities will also be scrutinised. On Tourism I will proposing new initiatives for the farming community to allow access to land and to maintain byways for sporting and recreational tourism. We will also be looking at new ways of promoting Ireland and campaigning to ensure that our unique selling points from an environmental perspective are retained."

"In relation to sport, I will be insisting that Minister O' Donoghue produce a nationwide audit of sporting facilities. The Green Party will also be campaigning for a new system of Public Public Partnerships over Public Private Partnerships for sport and educational facilities. This will involve targeted cooperation between the Department of Education and others and local authorities to build and maintain multi-purpose coordinated facilities that ensure maximum utility in terms of community involvement, educational facilities and security."

Eamon Ryan said that in the area of Enterprise Trade and Employment "the Greens believe that the increasing level of redundancies will call into question the enterprise policies of the current Government". "We will also be challenging the Government to make clear their negotiating positions within the European Council of Ministers in preparations for the upcoming World Trade Organisation Summit in Cancun in September. In the transport area we will be highlighting the current misguided policy of investing six times more in new roads as against new public transport systems. "

Mr. Ryan said that "the main bulk of my research work will be carried out in conjunction with three policy areas that I have tabled on this years work programme for the Joint Committee on Communications, Marine and Natural resources". "The first report will involve an examination of how the 2003 Renewable Energy directive should be transposed into Irish Law and will be accompanied by a Green Party policy paper on the whole energy issue. We have also asked that the committee to carry out a review of the 1996 National Forestry Strategy with particular attention to the economic viability of producing low value softwoods from exotic conifers. Later in the year we will present to the committee a policy paper on the sustainable development of aquaculture. This work should build on the role we hope to play in calling for
greater efforts to protect the Irish Wild Salmon."

"Finally I will be very busy over the next two months preparing for the "No Logo" day on the 10th of April next. This is a campaign to highlight the pressure children and parents are under to by big name logo brands. We hope to work with every school in the country getting CSPE pupils to ask some questions about where our clothes come from, how they are made and whether it is cooler to set your own style or to be a slave to corporate marketing."

Mr. Ciarán Cuffe TD said that, "As the the Green Party's spokesperson on Environment and Local Government, as well as Justice, Equality and Law Reform, I intend prioritising the following areas: in Environment, promoting sensible and sustainable solutions to the housing and waste crises as well as ensuring that the Government follows our lead on getting rid of the dual mandate. In the area of Justice, Equality and Law Reform, reflecting on how we can improve policies on racism, migration and equality to compliment the multicultural society we now live in."