FF/FG/Green Government - Part 3 - Threadbanned User List in OP

What have the Greens achieved since 2020?

Obviously their highest profile plan is in shreds (i.e. utterly failed) but what significant impacts have they achieved?

Scheme branded a 'failure' with just 89 homes retrofitted out of target of 62,500 (irishexaminer.com)

Climate Act

Investment in cycling infrastructure

Progession of DART+ and Metro

Ending of overinvestment in roads

Investment in bus corridors and extra buses.

These are all slow burners, which is why the opposition and posters like yourself are so worried about the Green. If the government lasts the pace, these advances will be plain to see.

All the greens want to achieve is tax everyone to oblivion and farming in particular.look at the citizens association report.tax food production end off.okay lads go off and eat tree’s instead

The Greens seem obsessed with pushing very unpopular tax increasing policies to reduce emissions. I've always wondered why they don't instead enact policies that would both reduce emissions and be popular with the general public. Because they do exist.

Things like introducing a very low interest rate loan from the government to allow people to get solar panels, or BER upgrades, or electric vehicles. You just pay it back as a fixed % of your income, regardless of if you're a pensioner or high earner or anything in-between. And the loans are open to anyone, regardless of income.

That would have a massive impact on our emissions, it would improve people's day to day lives, and would make use of some of the large amount of cash the government apparently has and is unable to spend. It would be win/win/win.

But no, instead they focus on things like raising the carbon tax, or blocking government energy grants, that make people, especially lower income people, struggle more with their lives. Its punitive environmental policy instead of progressive.

I'm very familiar with SEAI grants, they're nothing like what I mentioned - they only cover a small fraction of the cost and you have to pay the cash up front yourself. If you're a low, or middle, income household the problem is getting that 20,000-50,000 lump sum in the first place to get the BER work done and solar panels installed. Or getting the 40,000 to buy an electric vehicle.

What exactly do you call the carbon tax if not a tax?

In regards to not blocking the energy grant, thats not true at all:

"The Green Party will seek to block the introduction of a fourth €200 electricity credit this summer in crucial talks on a new cost-of-living package for households, Independent.ie can reveal."

https://www.independent.ie/irish-news/politics/greens-want-to-block-fourth-200-electricity-credit-for-this-summer-amid-coalition-row-42344635.html

Bertie Ahern's comments about FF going into government with SF seems to have rattled him. The recent FF losses in opinion polls probably haven't helped either. He's made FF indistinguishable from FG and turned the 2016 electoral rebound into a dead cat bounce in 2020. With O'Brien as Housing minister, FF seems to be taking most of the flak on the end of the evictions ban, Wouldn't be suprised to see FFers blaming him for the party's decline and he may not be leading FF into the next GE.

Regards...jmcc

Saying you 'do not see' something doesn't mean ruling it out. Indeed 'ruling something out' would appear not to mean ruling it out in Martin's world

They did eventually say 'no chance' but only after a distinct wobble from the leader

This will only be possible if there is an SF-led left government, and that's not looking likely right now.

Failing that FF+SF may be the only option, or FF may face a choice between SF and FG+Others...

I suggested a policy that would cover all of the up front costs of BER renovations and solar panels for lower and middle income households. And you responded by naming a scheme that requires 100% of upfront costs to be covered by households, and later pays them back 10-25% of the total. If you can't see how the two are wildly different then you might have critical thinking issues.

For an average/modest sized house in Ireland (100sqm) the total cost for a BER retrofit is usually 40,000-60,000. The Irish Examiner investigated this, and got a a figure of 65,000euro for a 108sqm house. Of which SEAI grants covered only 14,000euro:

Thats why the SEAI grants are only relevant to those households in the upper or upper-middle class. Nobody below that can afford the approx 50,000euro out of pocket cost. And thats why the number of BER home renovations being carried out is far below targets. Its a complete failure of Green policy making.

You claimed, repeatedly, the Greens weren't forcing any taxes or costs on Irish households, and asked for any taxes or costs the Greens are forcing on us. I listed two in this very short year so far alone - refusing the Spring energy grant and forcing the carbon tax increase. Those alone will cost the average Irish household anywhere from 400euro-1500euro this year, at a time when so many are struggling hugely as it is.

Thats why the Greens are at only 4% support currently - despite most people in Ireland being very aware of the climate crisis and supportive of measures to fight it these days. For 90% of Irish people the policies of the Greens are hugely harmful, instead of beneficial. Thats down to their own incompetence in relying on taxes to force behaviour change instead of financial support to aid it.