Public housing, health system improvements and home refitting on Green govt formation list
A significant increase in public housing, protecting gains in the public health system and a major retrofitting home project are three of the key demands of the Green Party, Eamon Ryan has said.
Mr Ryan said this week will be “critical” if the government formation talks are to succeed but set out his preference for the many billions in borrowed money to be prioritised to drive a major capital spending plan.
Mr Ryan said difficult choices lie ahead for the next government and made it clear that investing in enhanced State services must be “the first priority”.
“You can never do everything. We have to prioritise and should be around capital spending," he said.
"Investing in health, housing, and a low carbon economy must be the first priority. You have to balance, not to say you are cutting things but if additional funding is available through borrowing it is appropriate to ask what the key priorities are.
“It is getting people building public houses, real efficiencies in the health system to allow us to benefit from them after the Covid crisis and the retrofitting project,” he added.
Mr Ryan told the Irish Examiner the country's response to the crisis will have to be different to the one during the last financial crisis.
Clearly backing a major stimulus package to kickstart the economy, Mr Ryan said the “critical job” of the next government is to prime the economy.
He said the €30 billion projected deficit does not run contrary to following Green initiatives.
Mr Ryan said the pandemic has thrown up an opportunity to adapt the major cities to make them more suitable for walkers and cyclists and rejected concerns that achieving a lower carbon economy would be detrimental to the country.
Mr Ryan said the public would not take kindly to being asked to return to the polls in an election.
He said: "The economic situation is so serious that anyone who is seen to be trying to [....] favouring an election, I don't think the public would look too kindly on that. I don't read too much into that."
Mr Ryan also said the fact he has to stand for the leadership again in July is a “healthy thing” but that he is keen to remain on in his post.
