Green Party leader Roderic O’Gorman has claimed the Government has effectively “giving up” when it comes to emissions targets, reports Breaking News.
O’Gorman said there has been a lack of leadership on environmental matters and noted that his party is focusing on two forthcoming by-elections, reports Breaking News.
The Green Party formed part of a coalition administration with Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael between 2020 and 2024.
However, the party lost 11 of its 12 seats at the most recent general election, leaving O’Gorman as its sole remaining TD, reports Breaking News.
Addressing the party’s conference in Kilkenny on Saturday, he declared that the “Green tide is rising again” after Hannah Spencer secured victory in Gorton and Denton in a recent Westminster by-election.
O’Gorman told RTÉ’s This Week programme that organisational improvements had been made within the party ahead of by-elections later this year in Galway West and Dublin Central, reports Breaking News.
He said: “I think these by-elections, the biggest impact that they could have is to elect a green TD, because that would completely change the political conversation here, about nature, about climate, two areas we know, and I think everybody recognises that since the Greens have left government, that this government have backpedalled on consistently over the last 12 months,” reports Breaking News.
O’Gorman said he has reflected on his period in coalition, during which he served as children’s minister, reports Breaking News.
He said: “I wish I pushed earlier in terms of reducing childcare costs, and I wish in terms of the migrant crisis and the accommodation crisis that I had to deal with in my department, I wish I’d been tougher with some of the other government departments, particularly the Department of Housing,”
The Green Party leader said Taoiseach Micheál Martin and Tánaiste Simon Harris were “not prepared to give leadership” on climate action, reports Breaking News.
He said: “They’re not prepared to face the realities of very significant fines coming to Ireland if we don’t meet our targets.
“And they’re using that to distract from the fact that on important policies like investment in public transport, like decarbonising our electricity system, they are not pushing forward.
“They have no interest in these areas. We saw the difference the Green Party made in the last government. We brought these areas to the very centre of political decision-making in this country, and we’ve seen retreat after retreat from the new government,” reports Breaking News.
O’Gorman said the Government has already “given up” on achieving its 2030 emissions reduction goals.
He said: “I don’t know any other government target that it is satisfactory for a minister to give up four years before that target is due. It wouldn’t be acceptable in housing, it wouldn’t be acceptable in terms of health, in terms of waiting times, and yet this Government has given up four years early, and that’s to let themselves off the hook,” reports Breaking News.
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