Trevor Sargent (Dublin North, Green Party)

It is a good day for democracy that the parties in a position to move the writ do so today. I welcome the opportunity to put on the record the good wishes of the Green Party for the former incumbents, Charlie McCreevy in Kildare North and John Bruton in Meath. I have no doubt they will be missed in many ways but the people of Kildare North and Meath now have an opportunity to review their situation and look to the future. The Green Party will contest those by-elections with that sentiment in mind.

A by-election is often seen as a barometer of the Government's performance. I have no doubt that will be the case on this occasion and to that extent the Government has good reason not to want these by-elections and try to postpone them for as long as possible. It has been flushed out, however, and we now have a date of 11 March. Given that the Government is squandering a great deal of taxpayers' money on projects that do not give any benefit and widen the gap between rich and poor, as well as increasing the debt on future generations from the point of view of energy and environmental degradation, these by-elections will be a serious acid test for the Government.

A by-election is an opportunity to make a real difference and in the case of our party, which has six TDs, an additional representative, or ideally two, would bring us up to the level where we would be recognised as a group. The dynamics in the Dáil would clearly change in that regard. That is serious motivation from our point of view to have a successful outing at these by-elections.

Our candidate, Councillor J.J. Power, representing Naas and County Kildare in general, is somebody whom I look forward to working with, as I have done in Kildare North. Apart from being a family man and an elected councillor, he is someone who is very highly regarded by the people of Kildare. Fianna Fáil will know him well, given that he has a long family tradition in politics, but the Green Party is his chosen party and I know he will highlight the problems which are all too familiar to many people in terms of communities in the area not having proper school, health or public transport facilities.

Driving from Kildare to Dublin I am aware of the congestion at any time of the day, never mind peak hours, but I also know that opportunities exist to put forward solutions, and many of the Green Party solutions are to do with proper planning, investment in public transport, the provision of local facilities, primary health care and facilities for children. The provision of child care and playground facilities will be warmly welcomed and viewed as a resolution of the problems. I wish Councillor Power well and, on behalf of the Green Party, I hope the by-election will be an opportunity to address all the issues that need to be discussed and that it will be free of the type of in-fighting that sometimes bedevils by-elections.

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