FINE GAEL’S flagship policy to create jobs in the Irish economy will end in failure and could be deeply destructive to the energy sector, the Green Party has claimed.
Former minister for energy Eamon Ryan launched a sustained attack yesterday on Fine Gael’s NewERA policy, a €7 billion plan which the party has said will create 100,000 jobs. Fine Gael says the policy will be financed by funds from the National Pension Reserve Fund and by selling off some State assets.
Mr Ryan said the Fine Gael proposal to sell State assets to partially fund the proposed initiative “does not make any sense”.
“NewERA will not work. It’s not thought through. It’s not real. There’s no detail,” he said.
He said Fine Gael’s policy to sell off assets would raise only €4 billion, whereas the three State utility and energy infrastructure companies – ESB, Bord Gáis and Eirgrid – had already committed to investing €8 billion as a jobs stimulus until 2014. The Greens said that this investment was included in the Government’s four-year plan.
Mr Ryan said he had studied a YouTube presentation on NewERA by Fine Gael’s energy spokesman Leo Varadkar. He claimed it was clear that there are no real details underpinning the Fine Gael policy.
“It was just glib broad promises. It was clear that Leo [Varadkar] had no real understanding of the economic consequences of his plan. And this is the centrepiece of the Fine Gael jobs policy,” said Mr Ryan.
The former minister was speaking at a Green Party news conference on the five pre-conditions the party would lay down if in government.
He and party leader John Gormley outlined what they described as the “green-line issues” for the party: the matters on which the Green Party could not compromise if in government.
They are: a strong green economy that brings new jobs; tax policies that promote job creation; a progressive social agenda; political reform and the protection of the environment.
“This amounts to the party’s core agenda for the next five years. We are a strong, progressive and liberal voice in Irish politics. These five fundamental ‘green-line issues’ are our pledges to the Irish people,” he said.
Mr Ryan and Mr Gormley warned against single-party Fine Gael administration. Mr Gormley said it would have a “conservative and right-wing agenda at its core”. He also said Fine Gael would not implement strong climate change legislation.
The Green leader also criticised Labour for being tied to “the ideologies of the past which left them unable to present honest and coherent policies on tax and spending”.
Turning to the five points, Mr Ryan said that no other party was in a position to offer the progressive social agenda that had been offered by the Greens.
“We want a referendum on gay marriage. How serious are the other parties about equality? We have also committed ourselves to protect the education sector in particular; that too is a critical social measure.”
Mr Ryan said he did not know if the Greens would go into government or opposition but said the party was the only one which had no difficulty in talking to any other.
Asked if going into government was a realistic option, given the widespread view that it would lose most, if not all, its six seats, Mr Gormley said: “That depends on the people and the people have a choice to choose those alternatives. If you believe the polls, our friends in Fine Gael are poised to become a major player. There could be a minority government so we have to go in and listen to what they are saying.”
Green Party: five key issues
1.A "strong Green economy" that creates jobs with "no destruction or sale of State assets such as Bord Gáis, Coillte or ESB".
2.Tax policy that promotes job creation.
3.A progressive social agenda that protects education.
4.Political reform and "an end to vested interests dictating policy"
5.Protecting the environment and strong climate change legislation.