Green Party membership 'lukewarm' on FF/FG proposals

Additional reporting: Paul Hosford

Green Party TDs and senators will meet again Thursday to discuss the party’s response to the letter sent by Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael.

Green Party leader Eamon Ryan had written to the two Civil War parties with 17 questions based on their policy framework document.

A response was received late Tuesday night, but TDs and senators felt during yesterday’s meeting that they needed more time to discuss the answers before deciding on whether to give Mr Ryan the go-ahead to begin formal government negotiations.

Party sources say that the meeting was cordial, but some were "lukewarm" on the Fianna Fáil-Fine Gael letter, which promised a more interventionist role for the State on housing and a commitment to end Direct Provision - though it was said that this would "take time".

The Green Party had already set out in the last few weeks that their main red line would be a 7% reduction in emissions, which according to members was responded to in "very vague language", with the response from Leo Varadkar and Micheál Martin noting they would like "tease out and try and understand” how to reduce emissions through further government formation talks.

The response on climate targets has been singled out as the biggest concern for Green Party members.

"It’’s a fairly poor response," one source said.

"I’’m not sure how much clearer the party needed to be in terms of the seven per cent, it was a red line for even entering discussion.

"The negotiating tactic from Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael is; ’’We’’ll come in and negotiate already agreed targets and paint it as a concession to you’’.

"They talk about further consultation and this kind of thing, but we had a Citizens Assembly and an Oireachtas committee, we’’ve done plenty of consultation and that’’s been viewed suspiciously as a delay and kicking the can down the road.

"It’’s has gone down very poorly, the feeling is it doesn’’t even warrant a discussion.

"You’’d worry if this is how obstructive they are being at this stage, what it’’ll be like in government, what would they be like in cabinet behind closed doors? The carry on that they would be at."

Another issue of concern is the response on housing, as the homeless crisis shows no sign of abating, and the Green Party has stated its wish to see increased public housing on public land to resolve the issue.

The response from Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael states that although home ownership is a priority for both parties; "We believe public land should benefit all the public, not just those who qualify for social or dental schemes. We would not like to see people who want to own their home be the only ones frozen out.”

"It’’s very vague, in housing in particular, you can see it’’s very much business as usual," the source added.

Speaking at DCU on Wednesday, Taoiseach Leo Varadkar said that he hoped the Greens would consider the response carefully: "I hope the Green Party give it close consideration, we’’d be very keen to talk and enter formal talks on entering government.

"The 7% is an ambitious target but we accept we need to be ambitious when it comes to climate.

"We want to understand how achieving that would affect poverty, employment and the rural economy, but we’’re definitely up for greater ambition on climate action."