Greens target six areas for red line coalition talks with parties
The Green Party intend to tease out red lines among parties for coalition options this week as they begin a series of bi-lateral talks around six key policy areas.
Leader Eamon Ryan warned that the Greens were willing to go into opposition and potentially abandon coalition options if other parties only gave a "veneer" about implementing significant change.
His comments came as attention turns towards the Dáil vote for Taoiseach this week and ongoing backroom talks between parties to agree on some kind of coalition to lead the next government.
Mr Ryan's party has secured agreement from the civil service and state agencies to vet policies in the talks and to analyse different party approaches to voter concerns, such as housing and climate change.
The Greens will ask each of the parties vying to be in government to take part in meetings that will last a day and a half, to iron out differences in areas, including:
- meeting climate and biodiversity targets
- solving the housing crisis
- implementing health reform and Slaintecare
- funding increases in public service
- all-island, Brexit and European dimensions to changes
- better supporting community development to help improve services.
With coalition talks expected to become more intense this week with the Dáil resuming on Thursday, many see the Greens as potential kingmakers in any new government formation.
A priority for the party in its initial talks last week with others was how to ensure Ireland can meet its proposed carbon emissions reduction of 7% annually by 2030 across sectors and society.
With Sinn Féin now ruled out for coalition by Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael, the latter two will need the Greens to cobble together a three-way coalition with over 80 Dail seats.
Mr Ryan said this was the third time his party had been involved in government formation talks and that it would “take several weeks to get the detail right".
Speaking to RTE's This Week, he cautioned against parties just having just a “veneer” to implement significant changes in housing, health or transport policies and admitted his party was prepared to stay in opposition.
“It can't be just forming a government for the sake of making up the numbers,” added Mr Ryan.
He said he hoped the proposed six-strand approach to bi-lateral talks would be fill “an unhealthy gap”, given the focus on numbers and allegiances in recent days.
Earlier, Green Party Dublin-Final TD Joe O'Brien signalled that significant carbon emission cut targets, in the order of 7.6%, would have to be “part of” any new government's agenda and that this would mean “changes in variety of ways” in society. He added:
“We need to tackle climate change.”
