CLIMATE CHANGE and a ban on corporate donations would be top of the list in negotiations if the Greens were to form a coalition with Fine Gael, the party’s education spokesman Paul Gogarty has said. Taking part in an online question and answer session yesterday, he said his personal priority would be to revive the Climate Change Bill.
“There is a slight chance, a numerical possibility, that if the Greens get back with three or four seats and Fine Gael is close to an overall majority, then we could be potential coalition partners.”
In that event, banning corporate donations to political parties would be top of the list in any coalition negotiations, he said.
“We almost had corporate donations banned in the last government. Unfortunately, the Government was going down like a headless chicken that didn’t know its head has been taken off yet. We were three weeks away from a ban on corporate donations.”
Asked what his deal breaker would be in coalition talks, he replied that the Climate Change Bill would be his top priority.
In response to the question, “Should we have a referendum on the banks?” he replied: “I think so, yes.” But he added: “There is no point in having a Yes or No referendum: a bit like what the Greens did on Nama, we need a multi-choice referendum to give people a number of options, as in full default, partial default, tougher negotiations.”
Commenting on his campaign for re-election in Dublin Mid-West, Mr Gogarty said: “It has been very, very tough.”
He added: “I am personally heartened by the fact that a lot of people said that, if I was running as an Independent, they would give me number one, or they like my work rate. But there still is this thing about the Greens propping up Fianna Fáil.”
Looking back on the Greens’ time in government, he said: “If we did make a mistake, I suppose the mistake was going into government when we weren’t absolutely needed, because in 2007, Bertie Ahern could have formed a government with Independents.”
But he claimed the Greens had “punched above our weight” by gaining “major concessions” from Fianna Fáil, including “being able to reverse certain education cuts”.
On the financial crisis, he said: “If we told the Germans where to go in 2008, well, where were we going to find the money for social welfare and for the public sector?”
He added: “No one is going to consciously decide to have the ATMs stopped, to have people queuing for food, to have teachers and nurses and guards not being paid for six months.”
Green leader John Gormley admitted earlier that the party was facing a tough battle in the election: “If you look at Trevor Sargent, for example, or Eamon Ryan, they will be fighting for the last seat in those areas. I’ve been candid with people on that.”
