Dan Boyle covers for coalition re-think

Sully

I cant seem to find any online source but it was on either 2fm or TodayFM news this afternoon that Dan Boyle has called for a coalition re-think saying that there are a number of problems with party policy's implemented by FF and its time to come up with a new deal for the coalition.

Would love to see it online but haven't spotted it yet.

skelliser

statement printed over on politic.ie
http://www.politics.ie/current-affairs/68972-dan-boyle-calls-rethink-programme-government.html

Time to re-think the programme for Government – Dan Boyle

Speaking today in Tralee, the Chair of the Green Party and its European Election candidate, Dan Boyle, said that while the local and European elections should each be about different sets of issues, it was clear that national issues on the conduct and performance of this government will dominate this campaign.

"There are too many unresolved issues. Too many policy errors remain that have not been admitted to, areas where responsibility has not been taken. The policy of pump priming the property boom has been a disaster. The light touch regulation of our financial institutions has been a disaster. The awarding of excessive salary arrangements in the private sector, in the public sector and in political life has been a disaster.

These mistakes need to be confronted so the Government can implement the difficult decisions which need to be taken. The policies pursued have not been Green Party policies, and yet we now find ourselves in government having to deal with their consequences. We have a responsibility to the people we serve, the Irish people, to do so and we will play our part in getting this country out of the dreadful situation we find ourselves in. As a party we put our shoulder to the wheel and became, over the last two years, an effective and positive force within Government. I believe there is further room for the green agenda in Government, across all areas of Government business. Our members and supporters expect full partnership in Government and we will redouble our efforts to achieve this, with our partners in Government. We expect that the Green Party's contribution to resolving the real problems of this country will be recognised further, inside and outside Government.

It is true that everything has changed utterly since this programme for government has been agreed. Most of the Green party elements of it have now been implemented. It is a document that is in need of review, and the period after these elections would be an ideal opportunity to do that. The opposition parties make hay with the governments current difficulties. But their cynicism is hard to take. It is easy to react negatively to everything this government does, without really having to put forward any alternative proposals. It is also dishonest for these parties not to admit that if they were to be in government right now, they would have to take many of the same actions. Fine Gael and Labour may be saying similar things about what the government is doing, and the fact that they are saying remarkably differently things about each other, something that many commentators have yet to pick up on, and something that these parties will find hard to square with the voters.

A strength and a significant point of difference of The Green Party is that we treat politics differently. We seek greater support in these elections to give us a stronger voice in government to help influence and bring about a new direction."



looks like the greens are working on their exit strategy! a green bailout!

bijapos

Read that on the Irish Times online this morning too. May be that they want to ditch FF and try for a coalition with FG and Labour without a General Election.

Couldn't really care less but couldn't stand another month of allsorts grinning down at me from every bloody lamppost in the country.:mad:

nesf

Well, the Greens will definitely hold a better bargaining position after FF lose both by-elections and especially if Pat "The Cope" Gallagher wins a North West MEP seat. We may well see FF being given an ultimatum of enact more Green policy or Government breaking up.

Sully

nesf wrote: »

Well, the Greens will definitely hold a better bargaining position after FF lose both by-elections and especially if Pat "The Cope" Gallagher wins a North West MEP seat. We may well see FF being given an ultimatum of enact more Green policy or Government breaking up.

Would FF drop this low and allow them become the lapdogs?

nesf

Sully wrote: »

Would FF drop this low and allow them become the lapdogs?

Depends on how badly they want to stay in office and delay facing the electorate at the ballot box. Right now, given their polling, I imagine they'd prefer to delay this for another 6 to 12 months if at all possible.

That said, a smarter move might be to just bow out and hand the poisoned chalice to the opposition but that would mean a lot of backbenchers (and possibly front benchers) losing their seats and it would effectively end Cowen as leader.

Sully

nesf wrote: »

Depends on how badly they want to stay in office and delay facing the electorate at the ballot box. Right now, given their polling, I imagine they'd prefer to delay this for another 6 to 12 months if at all possible.

That said, a smarter move might be to just bow out and hand the poisoned chalice to the opposition but that would mean a lot of backbenchers (and possibly front benchers) losing their seats and it would effectively end Cowen as leader.

According to some of todays papers, if FF do poorly in the Local & European Cowen will be forced to leave. More political rumours.

The Greens want to reform the health service and introduce carbon tax. I really cant see the government doing what the Greens want because it could effectively damage FFs position even further - by letting the Greens have so much control and do some crazy things.

thebman

Correct me if I'm wrong but with FF's co-location on the hospital policy front they probably wouldn't want re-negotiate on that since it would effect party funding.

I agree it is greens fighting for more power given they are in a better bargaining position now than when they got into power.

They have to be aware of how much damage this coalition is doing to their party reputation at the moment too so pulling out can't be ruled out either.

Sully

Well, predictably, Gormely has ruled out talk of a pull out. What he did say was, they will remain as long as their policy's are being implemented. Maybe the Greens have grown a pair of balls now they know they have the power in their hands. So they are effectively holding the government to ransom to get what THEY want or else they pull the plug.

The greens have partly lost support because of being the governments lapdog, but also because of supporting the government through different issues and rolling back on their party beliefs. Most people want FF out, and I think if the Greens try to abuse the situation they are in and they may end up more damaged in the end for not pulling out. I see what there doing, but im not so sure they are a party that should be making such big decisions like health care reform which could backfire on both party's.

thebman

For people interested in what their health policies would be:
http://www.greenparty.ie/en/policies/health__1

edit---

Just reading myself, it sounds lovely in theory, lol.

Sully

thebman wrote: »

For people interested in what their health policies would be:
http://www.greenparty.ie/en/policies/health__1

edit---

Just reading myself, it sounds lovely in theory, lol.

After seeing them so far with FF, rolling back on what there policies are, I cant see them going with it.

There is sweet F all chance, I think, Harney & Co. will run with this idea.

nesf

thebman wrote: »

For people interested in what their health policies would be:
http://www.greenparty.ie/en/policies/health__1

edit---

Just reading myself, it sounds lovely in theory, lol.

Potentially very controversial:

Moving towards non-drug therapies saves money: where non-drug therapies have been shown to be effective for a particular condition, drugs marketed for that condition should not be reimbursable, if service users have access to alternative treatments.

With respect to an area like mental health this is very problematic. Non-drug treatments like CBT have been shown to be effective for mental health problems in general but they are complimentary to rather than replacing of drug treatments.

Darsad

Perhaps Boyle fancies his chances of getting elected next time out

Seth Brundle

bijapos wrote: »

Read that on the Irish Times online this morning too. May be that they want to ditch FF and try for a coalition with FG and Labour without a General Election.

FG has ruled them out!

Fine Gael is ruling out the possibility of a coalition with the Green Party.

The opposition party has criticised the Greens for their efforts to re-negotiate the programme for Government with Fianna Fáil.

Fine Gael is describing the move as an effort to abandon their Government partners, because of the fall in opinion poll ratings.

Speaking in Dublin today, Fine Gael leader Enda Kenny said the country is in desperate need of a real change.

http://www.breakingnews.ie/text/ireland/eykfkfkfqlkf/

Seth Brundle

Darsad wrote: »

Perhaps Boyle fancies his chances of getting elected next time out

I don't fancy his odds!

thebman

kbannon wrote: »

FG has ruled them out!

http://www.breakingnews.ie/text/ireland/eykfkfkfqlkf/

Seems a bit of a crazy thing to do TBH.

Mostly because the Greens would have been more likely to pull out of government if they thought they could be part of a coalition on the other side IMO.

However, I guess I can see some reasons it might be better for FG to refuse coalition with them over. The whole idea of being a party for change means rejecting the current government. The other thing is that it might remove bargaining power from the Greens with FF so their negotiations might fail and FF might refuse to give in on any new proposals the Greens bring forward which may frustrate the Greens into cutting their looses on popularity and pulling out of government.

I think they would have been better off leaving the door open though.