New laws will ban political donations
Political donations will be banned under new laws being introduced by Environment Minister John Gormley.
In a radical move that will hit the coffers of mainstream political parties, the Greens leader vowed at his party convention in Co Wexford to break all links between big business and politics.
The TD told more than 600 delegates in Co Wexford that their party has never received a cent from any bank or building company.
“We are not compromised and we will break the link between big business and politics,” he said in his televised leader’s address.
“That is why I intend, as Minister for the Environment, to introduce legislation to stop political donations from the big corporations, to restrict the spending of money by political parties between elections and to reduce the limits at which donations have to be declared.
“It will be the most radical piece of legislation on political funding ever,” he declared.
He told so-called white collar criminals: “You won’t get away with it. You will be pursued. You will be held to account. You will face the full rigours of the law. And you will pay for what you have done to our country”.
Mr Gormley said people are uncertain, fearful and understandably angry about the economic downturn.
But he added: We have a choice. We can choose to be swallowed up by the negativity, to be paralysed by fear, or we can come out fighting as one nation.
“And if we work together we will come through, we will prevail and we will emerge from this crisis with a stronger, fairer and more just society.”
The TD called for a smarter, more dynamic and greener economy
“The Green Party did not get us into this mess – but we will get us out of it,” he told delegates.
Mr Gormley said the Greens in Government would end the days of bad planning, dodgy re-zoning and brown envelopes.
“Our new planning legislation and planning guidelines will mean well-built sustainable communities, close to public transport, close to schools and other amenities,” he said.
“Urban sprawl leads to longer commuting times, sucks the life out of town centres, and puts extra costs on taxpayers.
“Inappropriate development has severe environmental consequences. ”In these tough economic times bad planning is a luxury we simply cannot afford.“
