The exact date for a general election is a matter for the Taoiseach to decide as the Green Party has set out its timelines and objectives for the remainder of its period in Government, Minister for Communications Eamon Ryan said today.
Speaking to reporters following reports of a rift between Fianna Fáil and Green Party Ministers over the passing of the junior coalition partner's priority legislation, Mr Ryan said he was confident bills other than those relating to the Budget would be passed before a general election.
"There's a huge amount of legislation and not just on the finance side," he said. "I would like to see…other legislation which I think is to the benefit of the country in terms of changing corporate donations, the introduction of a climate bill and indeed other measures."
Specifically, Mr Ryan said he was hopeful the Green Party could get a corporate donations bill through before an election was called.
"It rectifies one of the mistakes, one of the legacy issues that you have to fix," he said. "I know that our Fianna Fáil partners agree with that. The legislation has been agreed in Cabinet. It's a matter now of just drafting it. It is complex and difficult legislation. I think that can still be done in the lifetime of this Government."
Mr Ryan declined to speculate on a date for the election and insisted his party was committed to getting the budgetary process completed. He said the Green Party had called for an election in mid-January in an attempt to "depoliticise" the budgetary process.
"We feel that actually it was better to say 'yes, get this legislation through and then have an election'. I think I some ways it does reduce the political tension in some way at a very difficult time and it think it was the right thing to do."
Mr Ryan said he was not ashamed that the Green Party had supported Fianna Fáil and the current Government had inherited a situation that would have been a significant challenge to anyone.
