The Green Party could prove a bridge builder between Fine Gael and Labour in marrying inconsistencies between their economic policies if it was to be party to a new rainbow coalition, the party’s finance spokesman, Senator Dan Boyle, declared today.
Mr Boyle said there were clear inconsistencies between Fine Gael and Labour in terms of the ratios they were proposing for cutting public expenditure relative to increasing taxation and that the Greens could help resolve those differences in a new coalition deal.
Fine Gael was proposing a ratio of 2:1 in terms of cutting public expenditure relative to increasing tax while Labour was proposing a 1:1 ratio between the two but the Greens would adopt a more innovative approach in its economic policy to be unveiled next week, he said.
According to Mr Boyle, the Greens will be proposing a 65:35 ratio with approximately a 33 per cent cut in current public expenditure, a further approximately 33 per cent cut in capital project expenditure and a 33 per cent increase in taxation revenues.
“Our preference in 2007 was for a rainbow, but the numbers didn’t add up, and there wasn’t a willingness to form such a government - that would still be our preference, and we think we could still help by marrying the inconsistencies that exist between Fine Gael and Labour.
“I think in terms of managing the public finances, we might be closer to Fine Gael than to Labour. I think in terms of social policy, I think we would be closer to Labour than to Fine Gael, and in terms of environmental policy, we have a more coherent approach than either party.”
Describing the Green Party as potential “bridgebuilders” rather than “matchmakers” in such a possible agreement, Mr Boyle said it was entirely a matter for the voters to decide, and that everything would depend on the seats each party receives in the general election.
Mr Boyle, who was unveiling his election campaign to regain the seat he lost in 2007 in Cork South Central, had earlier criticised Labour’s proposal to renegotiate the EU/IMF deal and said Ireland could not unilaterally renegotiate the 5.8 per cent interest rate agreed in December.
“It can’t be renegotiated unilaterally by Ireland. It can only be reassessed in a European-wide solution that affects Ireland and Greece and Portugal and Spain and Italy - that’s the only way it can be done, and for Eamon Gilmore to claim it can be done is fundamentally dishonest.”
Mr Boyle also accused Labour of being dishonest in claiming that it could extend the reduction of the €15 billion shortfall between public expenditure and income by two more years until 2016 as the deal was negotiated on the basis of a four year plan.
Mr Boyle acknowledged that the Green Party was receiving criticism from the electorate over its involvement in government over the past three years but the party had no role in creating the economic collapse which was the result of policies pursued by Fianna Fáil.
“People want to punish Fianna Fáil in particular, they want to have a go at the Green Party for having been in government with Fianna Fáil, no doubt about that, but there is a distance between us and the circumstances which brought about the economic downfall in this country.
“The policies that brought about the economic collapse were the policies that were followed in 2002 and 2007 largely by Charlie McCreevy and subsequently by Brian Cowen as Minister for Finance, and it gave rise to the myth that we could spend more and tax less,” he said.