Greens Think-In Rounds On Backsliding of "Do-Nothing" Government

Speaking at the annual Green Party Think-In today, party leader Roderic O’Gorman called out the Coalition as a ‘do-nothing Government’. 

“This Government has been in office for 231 days, and in this time it has earned its reputation as a do-nothing Government. In the first 231 days of the last government, 27 pieces of legislation were enacted. This government has passed only 10 within the same number of sitting days”. 

“The only work Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael have shown any enthusiasm for is undoing measures that the Green Party championed in the last Government. They’ve raided the Climate and Nature Fund, and blown all €3 billion on filling holes in their infrastructure budget. They’ve opened the door to costly LNG and fracked gas. And now they’re raising a doubt about the funding for home retrofits”. 

Green Party Chairperson Councillor Janet Horner said that Greens in local authorities continue to show leadership for communities and climate despite a Government with its fingers in its ears regarding the challenges facing the country:

“At our Think-In today, the Green Party will focus on how we hold the Government to account for its inaction and backsliding in the Dáil and Seanad, but also how our councillors on local authorities across the country are still working to deliver important changes that improve quality of life for families.

“Despite the Minister for Housing cutting the tenant-in-situ scheme and cancelling social housing projects, Green Party Councillors are leading the agenda in Cork and Dublin to increase supply of social housing and homelessness supports. Though the Minister for Transport hasn’t given any financial assurance to Councils to tackle transport emissions, Green Party Councillors are pushing ahead to support active travel and traffic calming schemes. And while the climate and biodiversity fund has been raided, the Green Party are keeping climate action front and centre of how we improve public space for communities across Ireland.”

Green Party Senator Malcolm Noonan highlighted the practical examples of the Coalition Government’s lack of action: 

“When presented with a ready-to-go Green Party bill to address vacancy and dereliction in our towns and cities and help ease our housing crisis, this Government shelved our legislation. Despite pre-election promises from Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael to roll out a public childcare model and cap costs for families, they have gone silent on it. On student fees, we have had a farcical situation where Government TDs and Ministers were blaming each other for rowing back on eventual abolition of fees; which was deeply hurtful to families putting young people through college. All of this is adding to a narrative of a Government that lacks courage, lacks ambition and lacks ideas."