Green Party attacks Taoiseach Leo Varadkar on climate change

Green Party leader Eamon Ryan has attacked the “green” credentials of Taoiseach Leo Varadkar and his Government at his party’s national convention in Dún Laoghaire.

In his leader’s address, Mr Ryan singled out Mr Varadkar for sustained criticism on his record on climate change, on management of the economy and his meeting with US president Donald Trump earlier this month.

The Greens have tended to be the least adversarial of the State’s political parties, but this weekend’s convention saw a marked increase in more robust criticism of the Government and Ministers.

In his leader’s address to over 200 party members at the Royal Marine Hotel in Dún Laoghaire, Co Dublin, Mr Ryan portrayed the Taoiseach as having an outdated 1990s world view of where the Irish economy should be going.

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“He believes markets know best and that Government should have a minimal role in shaping our future. He is inspired by the American dream of individual attainment,” Mr Ryan said.

Social Welfare

“He represents those who get up early in the morning and openly questions the motives of those on social welfare. He is bringing us back to the old way where short-term economic interests define what we say and do.

“He is young and quick and good with words – but I for one don’t buy this vision of our future,” he said.

Mr Ryan added he was mortified last week when Mr Varadkar praised US president Donald Trump for copying our own low corporation tax policy.

“Leo Varadkar said on the day of his inauguration as Taoiseach that he would make climate change the first priority for his Government. He has not followed through on that promise,” Mr Ryan said.

“The Government’s National Climate Mitigation Plan is an unmitigated disaster. They have no real ambition for what we need to do.”

Claiming Mr Varadkar stood for the status quo of big business and low taxes, he said Fine Gael were conservatives who did not believe in conservation.

He argued Fine Gael reforms were “steering us in the wrong direction” with a developer-led approach to housing, lower standards for apartments, refusal to countenance a site-value tax and a “failed” housing strategy.

“If your interest in the economy centres around buying distressed mortgages, exporting live cattle or protecting oligarch’s golf courses, then you know who you have to call.”

Paying lip service

Mr Ryan also singled out four other Cabinet Ministers for criticism over claimed inaction on climate change and sustainability, saying they had done little more than pay lip service to the issues.

“The other parties and independents are little different. They all pay lip service to the issue but they do not support the scale of change we need to make.”

He accused Minister for Communications Denis Naughten of “fighting in Europe to weaken new climate and clean energy legislation”. He said Minister for Agriculture Michael Creed was “exporting millions of tonnes of replacement infant formulae, as if it was a great green marketing coup”.

He said Minster for Transport Shane Ross was more interested in Stepaside Garda Station than in gridlock, while Minister for Business Heather Humphreys had said next to nothing about the green agenda.

The national planning framework, Project 2040, had been “sorely compromised”, he told the conference.

“It follows the old development model with a reliance on interurban motorways and 50 per cent of new housing to come outside existing urban areas.”

‘Slay the myth’

Mr Ryan said the model to follow for Ireland and for Europe was to create a sustainable economy. He also said he wanted to “slay the myth” that the Greens and farmers were on different sides.

“Farmers are the frontline in the fight against climate change and we are their best hope for higher incomes, and better links with their consumers. We will be their greatest supporters as they become the custodians of our natural world,” he said.

Among the specific measures he outlined was a plan to plant 20,000 hectares of new forestry each year (four times the current rate). He also said that if in government, the Greens would designate 500,000 sq km of Irish territorial waters as Marine Protected areas.

On housing, he said the party would restore traditional urban streets which, he said, were currently “dying on their feet”.

“By taking those old street buildings and wrapping them in warm insulation, putting solar panels on every roof and plugging in high speed broadband, we could make them all become fitting homes for young people and families to move in to.

“Living in the centre of towns and cities, their children would have the chance of walking and cycling to the shops and to school.”

He also called on the greenways throughout the State to be connected.

He said the solutions the Greens sought included more natural parks, more public transport, more playgrounds, more primary care centres, more smart farming and fishing, and more flexible working.

“Our collective future depends on our ability to maximise our economic potential in a way that serves all our people and protects our precious natural resources.

“We ignore the degradation that is happening to our environment at our own peril. We have but one chance to stop runaway climate change taking hold,” he said.

Extended maternity leave

In her deputy leader’s address, Catherine Martin said the party in the Dáil had championed extended maternity leave for mothers of premature babies.

“This is tangible evidence of how despite our party being small in terms of numerical numbers, we are making a difference in the chamber.”

She said the party would need to be a listening and campaigning Green Party if it were to to grow in future.

There was no formal discussion of the Referendum to repeal the Eighth Amendment, as the party has already agreed to support it. Most speakers said they would campaign to support the referendum. In her speech, Ms Martin told delegates, to applause, that 2018 was the year where Ireland should trust women.

“The Green Party trusts women. We welcome the upcoming referendum to repeal the Eighth. We are respectful of those who hold a different view.

“As a country we must have the courage to deal with this issue. Women should not steal away from this country to access a safe medical procedure,” she said.

Earlier, the party confirmed that Dublin city councillor Ciarán Cuffe will be the Green candidate in the capital for next year’s European Elections.

Mr Cuffe, a former TD, has been a prominent campaigner on planning and sustainable transport issues.

“If elected to the European Parliament I will work to deliver on Dublin’s housing, transport and social needs, and create a more equitable and fairer city for all.”