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 on Fine Gael's NewERA policy, a €7 billon plan which the party has said will create 100,000 jobs. Fine Gael proposes it will be funded 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 policy "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 underlying 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," he said.
Mr Ryan was speaking at a Green 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 both warned against a single Fine Gael government. Mr Gormley contended it would have a "conservative and right wing agenda at its core."