Gormley: It will be difficult to agree a deal

FIANNA Fail and the Green Party were supposed to be inching closer to a deal around 3.30pm yesterday afternoon when the latter notified journalists to say the negotiations had been temporarily suspended.

The Green negotiating team of John Gormley, Dan Boyle and general secretary Donall Geoghegan went to consult with the seven other members of the party’s reference group to discuss the latest developments.

When the negotiating team returned to Government Buildings to resume the talks shortly before 5pm, the mood seemed almost grim.

‘‘There are very significant difficulties and there is no guarantee that we will reach an agreement,’’ Mr Gormley said.

‘‘We are going back in now to discuss these difficulties and we have taken direction from our party members and the party members are obviously uppermost in our minds at this stage. But as I say, it’s going to be very difficult to reach an agreement.’’

By 7.30pm, the mood had shifted, but only slightly. From moments of snatched conversation with the negotiating team, the Green press officers said the discussions appeared to be going a little better. But they cautioned not to read too much in this, because still unresolved were the ‘‘very significant difficulties’’ of which Mr Gormley had spoken. The talks ended for the night at approximately 8.30pm.

So what are these difficulties? There are a range of issues on which Fianna Fáil and the Greens disagree.

The most obvious one is climate change. A cornerstone of Green Party policy is the introduction of a carbon tax on energy used by consumers and businesses, the idea being that it would encourage more efficient use of energy. But as the major government partner, Fianna Fáil decided in 2004 not to introduce such a tax, saying the poorest sections of society would be worst affected by such a levy, as fuel prices would rise. In response, the Greens said some of the money raised by the tax could be used to increase social welfare payments to negate its effect on the poor. But Fianna Fáil never warmed to the idea of a carbon tax, and still remains opposed to it.

The Government’s hospital co-location plan is another fundamental area of difference. Fianna Fáil wants to push ahead with the PD plan of locating private hospitals on the grounds of public hospitals. The aim of that plan is to move private beds out of the public hospitals and into the new, co-located private facilities. But the Greens dislike the plan, and have made no secret of their desire to see it scrapped.

Then there are issues such as corporate donations to political parties — the Greens want to ban them, but Fianna Fáil sees no reason to.

The continued use of Shannon Airport by the US military is another. Again, the Greens want to curtail the practice. Again, Fianna Fáil sees no reason to.

It is therefore unsurprising that the talks have proved so difficult. But politics being what it is, it would be very surprising if the two parties didn’t find some way to reach common ground.