Green Party leader Trevor Sargent has sharply criticised his favoured coalition partners, Fine Gael and Labour, accusing them of failing to put forward proposals to cope with the major challenges facing the State, writes Mark Hennessy, Political Correspondent.
Mr Sargent told his party that they were "knocking on the door of government". And in a move to neutralise the regular accusation from the Government parties that they would put up taxes, delegates agreed to pledge during the next election campaign not to raise income or corporation tax.
But while Fianna Fáil and the PDs were denounced regularly at the party's weekend conference for "looking after fat cat cronies", Fine Gael and Labour - the larger parties in a potential rainbow coalition which could involve the Greens - were also criticised by delegates.
The recent refusal by Fine Gael and Labour to back a Green push, led by Dublin South TD Eamon Ryan, for an all-party Dáil agreement on the future energy challenges facing the State has particularly angered the Greens.
Fine Gael and Labour keep "talking about changing the Government but we are not hearing clearly that they will change policies - other than providing better management. That is completely insufficient to deliver the type of change that the country needs," Mr Sargent said.
He has said that he would not stay on as leader if the Greens end up going into government with Fianna Fáil, though he accepted last evening that a number of opinions on the coalition issue existed within the party's membership.
However, the attacks on Fine Gael and Labour seem designed to emphasise the party's own independent identity in the election run-up, rather than marking any cooling of the Greens' ambitions to be in government.
Copper-fastening a decision made last year, delegates yesterday backed a motion to fight the general election campaign "independent of any pacts, as a party of integrity, honesty and relevance".
In a buoyant mood following an opinion poll result yesterday showing a 2 per cent rise in the party's support, Mr Sargent said the Greens were bidding to win up to 12 seats, up from the six they currently hold. A final decision on the coalition options open to the Greens, if any, would not be made until a special delegate conference is held after the election result is known.
The decision to pledge not to increase income and corporation taxes if they get into power is a clear attempt to close off criticisms from other parties. However, the party remains in favour of sharply cutting business and property tax reliefs.
Meanwhile, they also decided to continue with a long-standing ban on accepting corporate donations, despite a warning from the party's deputy leader, Mary White, that their lack of resources meant that they would suffer at the hands of better-funded opposition.
In his keynote speech to the conference on Saturday night, Mr Sargent said it was time for the Taoiseach to "stand indicted. Why have housing lists doubled? Why are social amenities non-existent? Why are so many schools so badly under-resourced? Why are so many drug programmes chronically under-funded? Why are sick people dying on trollies? Why are 250,000 children living in poverty? Meanwhile he [Mr Ahern] spends €19,000 a year on make-up."
The Sunday Business Post/Red C opinion poll reported yesterday that the Greens' support nationally is up 2 points in the last month to 7 per cent, but, more significantly, the party has a 12 per cent following currently in Dublin.