Ciarán Cuffe (Dún Laoghaire, Green Party)

No one ever said that being in government would be easy and I am the first to admit we have had one hell of a week. From the first day of this Government, I voiced my hopes, fears and dreams about being in government. These hopes, fears and dreams remain and I ask myself every waking day whether we made the correct decision. Despite the enormous difficulties we encounter in our work, I still believe the Green Party has made, is making and will make the correct decisions in or out of government. Part of that job is listening and we have to listen more carefully to all voices.

When I joined the embryonic Green Party more than 25 years ago we had a job on our hands trying to communicate what we stood for and wanted to achieve. This job remains, even if many of the issues we stand for have entered the mainstream. There is a danger that ideas will be open to misinterpretation, particularly when others try to steal our clothes. While I welcome the Fine Gael Party's conversion to the green cause, I am somewhat concerned that in assuming the mantel it neglects the substance. The Fine Gael Party's new-found conversion to the green cause has a touch of the zeal of a reformed smoker.

The expression, "all hat and no cattle", is used in Texas. Fine Gael may talk the talk on climate change but I am not convinced it yet has substance. While I welcome Deputy Kenny's stirring words on climate change and his criticism of giant gas guzzlers better suited to a safari than the school run being used in our cities and suburbs, he seemed to actively encourage his by-election candidates to use sports utility vehicles to navigate the treacherous off-road conditions in Dublin South and Dublin Central. I would welcome his party's new-found interest in proper planning if it was not still busy rezoning half of rural County Mayo for development. Clearly, proper planning in the eyes of half of the Fine Gael Party's front bench means building anything anywhere.

I would welcome Fine Gael's interest in abolishing quangos if the party did not propose to establish the mother of all quangos, a new State industrial holding company to be known as the new economy and recovery authority or NewERA, whose purpose would be to co-ordinate, restructure and finance existing and new State companies. Its proposal would create yet another layer of bureaucracy and red tape. I am not convinced it is the right way forward. While the Fine Gael Party has good ideas, I regret it runs with the hare and hunts with the hound much too often. It cannot knock every idea of the Government, good, bad or indifferent, and then shed crocodile tears about criticism of Ireland in the international media.

I am concerned about the cohesion, whether ideological or real, between Fine Gael and the Labour Party. For example, the moment the former announced its intention to table a motion of no confidence, the Labour Party indicated it may not be the right time for such a motion. If that is a sign of co-operation in the future, it does not bode well for co-operation and putting together a carefully agreed programme. Necessity is the mother of invention, but I am not convinced the policies dovetail. I accept that the role of the Opposition is to oppose but I would look back and say when the Green Party was in Opposition we proposed far more often than we opposed. Fine Gael proposes a new State company to co-ordinate water supplies. Is that the way forward? One cannot publish proposals expressing concern about 800 quangos and then suggest we need several new State companies to overcome this issue.

Labour and Fine Gael are quite often opposite in outlook, whether it be economically or socially, and I am not convinced they can meet neatly in the middle and propose coherent policies for the good of Ireland. The Green Party has had a strong influence in Government. We have a strong track record of achievement over the past two years and as long as we continue to make solid progress on implementing green policies, it is worthwhile being in Government. I, therefore, support the motion of confidence in the Government.

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