The Green Party leadership could have a difficult task in selling the deal, writes Stephen Collins
After another long day of talking Fianna Fáil and the Greens finally managed to reach agreement on terms for entering government together. The talks dragged on all day not so much because there were great issues of principle at stake but because of a disagreement on the more basic question of how the spoils of office are to be apportioned.
Of course, the nature of the ministerial responsibilities allocated to the Greens will be crucial to the achievement of their policy objectives, so the question of jobs and policies are intertwined. Still, it was on the jobs issue that Fianna Fáil put up a stern rearguard action which kept the talks going - past yet another deadline - into the evening.
The talks did not finish until 8.30pm, and 15 minutes later both parties announced that they had reached agreement on the contents of a programme for government. However, on the crucial question of ministerial posts, uncertainty still remains. That issue will have to be finalised in discussions between the two party leaders, Bertie Ahern and Trevor Sargent.
The content of the policy agreement was being kept secret last night and will only be given to Green Party members from around the country when they gather at the Mansion House in Dublin today to deliver their verdict. The announcement on cabinet positions will not be made until the Taoiseach announces his team to the Dáil tomorrow.
Delegates to the Green conference will vote on the draft policy document alone. A two-thirds majority will be required before the Greens can enter government and the party leadership could well have a difficult task in selling the deal to the members. Trevor Sargent may also have some difficulty in explaining how he proposes to lead the Greens into coalition with Fianna Fáil in spite of a specific commitment back in February that he would do no such thing.
The issue of ministerial posts emerged as the deal-breaker yesterday after it became clear that the resumed talks had resulted in the outline of a deal on core Green issues such as climate change, local government and education. When the talks resumed after the weekend breakdown it quickly became clear that the basis for an agreement was on the cards.
A carbon tax linked to the whole area of carbon budgeting was one of the key Green demands. Another important area was reform of local government, with the Greens insisting on the need for directly-elected mayors in major local authorities. The third priority for the Greens was extra funding for education, linked to fundamental changes in the system.
While it became clear during Monday's talks that broad agreement between the two parties on the shape of a draft programme could be reached, the thorny issue of jobs reared its head with a vengeance. A complicating factor was that the issue was also linked to the role Fianna Fáil's other potential partner, the Progressive Democrats, would play in any three-party coalition.
In discussions not directly related to the policy issues, the Greens made it clear that they wanted the two major departments of environment and transport, and Fianna Fáil simply said no. It was not prepared to cede one of those departments in its entirety, never mind two. While the parties claimed that "drafting difficulties" were the reason why the talks dragged on all day, the more fundamental reason was the failure to reach agreement on ministerial responsibilities.
Various suggestions about how the departments in question might be broken up or reformed were put on the table, but agreement proved difficult. The Fianna Fáil side appeared willing to give away part of the Department of the Environment and redesignate it as a department of climate change. There were also suggestions that energy could be detached from the current unwieldy Department of the Marine, Energy and Natural Resources.
Fianna Fáil's attempt to separate local government from any new department of energy did not go down well with the Greens, who argued strongly for control of the entire department. The same applied to transport, with the Greens seeking control of the department and Fianna Fáil resisting.
In parallel with the talks with the Greens, Fianna Fáil was also in discussions with the Progressive Democrats. A key issue here also related to the specific portfolio on offer to the PDs. Fianna Fáil made efforts to persuade Mary Harney to move from health and, according to Fianna Fáil sources, the plum position of foreign affairs was dangled before her in an effort to get her to agree.
While Trevor Sargent denied last week that his party had laid down any conditions about what department might be taken by the PDs, Fianna Fáil sources maintained that the issue was always there in the background. One way or another Fianna Fáil attempted to persuade Ms Harney to take a different department but she was not for turning. She stuck by the statement she made during the election that she wanted to go back to health to finish her programme of reform.
The co-location of private hospitals on public hospital grounds is just one of the issues Ms Harney was determined to see through. The other and linked issue is the question of a new contract for hospital consultants. This is something that has defeated every government since Charles Haughey conceded it in 1979 and Ms Harney is convinced that no serious reform of the health service can take place in its absence.
One issue that may rear its head at the Green convention today is the commitment given by Mr Sargent that he would not lead his party into coalition with Fianna Fáil. Mr Sargent first announced that position last November.
In February he repeated that position in an interview with The Irish Times. "I do not see myself leading the party into coalition with Fianna Fáil due to its culture of bad planning, corruption and bad standards," he said, adding that while he would reflect on the mandate he received in the election it was very doubtful that his party would ever go into coalition with Fianna Fáil. At that stage Mr Sargent did say he would be willing to serve in a Fianna Fáil-Green coalition but he would not lead his party into it.
Mr Sargent will have to explain his u-turn at today's meeting, which will not be open to the media.