The Greens hold their annual conference this weekend. Trevor Sargent argues that his party's economic policies promote efficiency, conservation and equity.
As we face into the longest pre-election campaign in the history of the State, this tired Government claims to be happy with its work. Yet every week, Green Party TDs, MEPs, councillors and activists meet constituents who are destitute, desperate and depressed.
No wonder. They are faced with unaffordability of accommodation, frequent burglary, street violence, low wages, lack of school or other facilities, lack of public transport, too much traffic congestion, overcrowded hospital and drug treatment services, destruction of wildlife habitats, and even the destruction of their own homes and farms from flooding.
And these are only some of the problems requiring our help.
Despite the economic boom, we all know, only too well in our constituencies, wards and town councils that this Government doesn't give two hoots to those at the bottom of the social pecking order. Yes it's OK to take the betting tax off for the race crowd but not to remove means testing on the carers allowance.
How mean can you get? There are thousands of carers in this State and yet this Government is not prepared to reward those unselfish people who look after people with disability or who suffer long-term illness - no, Fianna Fáil and the PDs punish them.
Going into this election, Green Party candidates know that we have the policies and the political experience to not just cure the symptoms, but also remove the underlying causes of a legacy of greed generated by this Government.
A consistent theme of this Government has been its absolute failure to understand that a healthy economy is dependent on a healthy environment. When Greens say "think globally and act locally" we are being pragmatic. When the Progressive Democrats say they have a problem with that, they are being politically prehistoric.
Green economic policies are threefold in that they promote economic efficiency, ecological conservation and social equity. The Greens believe that to fail in respect of any one of these objectives is to jeopardise future economic prospects.
All three objectives are also needed to ensure competitiveness in the short term but also economic sustainability in the long term. Sadly, however, the economic policies of this Government are organised around lifeless abstractions of neoclassical economics and accountancy, with progress being measured purely on GNP and GDP. This is a measure which ignores, among other things, suicides, rural depopulation and the lack of affordable housing, health and education.
It is often said that Green politics is clean politics. As a party we have continually exposed corruption and fought with many communities for good planning and improved facilities. We are also a party that voluntarily operates without the dual mandate. We believe in one person for one job.
The Greens also attract a good balance of women and men, to the extent that we go into this election with a better candidate gender balance than any other party.
In terms of our priorities overall, the Greens are a quality-of-life party. We believe that there is no point in unprecedented economic growth if we find ourselves snarled up in traffic worrying about childminders, crèches and how we are going to pay for our inflated mortgages.
Green policy seeks to develop living communities and family life. It means more than just protecting the environment. It also means altering the way we live, changing the emphasis from relentless consumption and economic growth to more sustainable economic activity and indicators.
A quick look around the world to where Greens have been or are in government will prove that Green policies are beneficial to each country in question. Whether Greens are in government in Germany, France, Georgia, Finland or Tasmania, the quality of life is generally envied by Irish people who return from visits to those countries.
Specific targets of Green policy are high-quality public transport and cycleways, promoting strategies for ending poverty, providing a basic income for all through refundable tax credits, and facilitating parents and carers to care in the home.
We will emphasise preventative medicine and provide effective health services with a local emphasis.We will tackle the causes of crime and substance abuse and promote indigenous local enterprise, including the construction of a vibrant recycling and renewable-energy industry. We will also continue our campaign for a zero-waste strategy.
We will promote village life in rural areas and multicultural community life in cities. Small farms will be protected and organic farming promoted. We will continue to work to reverse militarism and the destructive effects of globalisation on the world's poor. We will also persist in our opposition to all nuclear power and continue to work for the closure of Sellafield.
The Irish people are realising that our public services are still severely lacking. They have had enough of waiting for the basics - hospital beds, adequate cancer services, affordable housing, efficient public transport.
This is the Government that failed to extend the medical-card scheme to the low paid. This is also the Government that enraged one of the most vulnerable sections of our society when they tried to pass a Disability Bill that undermined disability rights. As it stumbles towards election day, it becomes obvious that we are witnessing an uncaring and arrogant Government in the dying days of power.
What is also self-evident, however, is that there is a perceptible shift among the electorate to get rid of sleaze and spin and to introduce vision, energy and integrity. The Green Party and green politics encompass these qualities and it is on this platform that we will launch our election campaign at our weekend convention in Cork.
Trevor Sargent is leader of the Green Party