The PDs in power: ten years of broken promises
– McDowell’s party has more failures than successes to reflect on
The Green Party today ridiculed the Progressive Democrats’ claim that it has delivered on its election promises and highlighted some of PDs’ more serious failures in its ten years in Government.
Speaking on the eve of the PDs’ national conference, Green Party Chairman John Gormley TD said: “Not only have the PDs failed to deliver on their promises, they have managed to deliver on things which they did not promise, such as the privatisation of the health service. They have absolutely no mandate for this ill-conceived proposal.
“The major plank of the Progressive Democrats’ campaign at the first election was that a single party government was undesirable and they would keep an eye on Fianna Fáil. The PDs have not only kept an eye on them – they are now indistinguishable from the bigger party. Who would have thought that Michael McDowell would seek the end of tribunals investigating corruption? The last five years have been particularly damaging for the PDs and it is unlikely that they can recover at this stage.”
The Green Party has identified the following promises made by the PDs, which have not been delivered on:
Metro
Promise: “We are confident that the first phase of the metro can be delivered during the term of office of the next government. Our timetable for opening is: Sandyford -city centre-Dublin Airport 2007, city centre-Blanchardstown 2007, Sandyford - Shanganagh extension 2008, Dublin Airport-Swords extension 2008. […] Further lines can be brought into service before the end of the decade.”
Reality: The earliest that the single Metro North line will be in operation is 2013. Construction work will not even begin until 2009. Construction of Metro West will take until at least 2014.
Carers’ allowances
Promise: “We will abolish the means test for the carer’s allowance and ensure that every carer is entitled to a full allowance in his or her own right.”
Reality: The qualifying conditions for carers’ allowances include the successful completion of a means test (http://www.welfare.ie/foi/carers_all.html)
Dublin Bus
Promise: “Our aim is to achieve 100% liberalisation in five years. We will ensure that bus-users enjoy the full benefits of competition with more companies providing more services on more routes.”
Reality: Deadlock. The ideological spat between the two Government partners has delivered no extra competition, hardly any extra busses, and no new routes.
Waste incineration
Promise: “Ireland’s waste management problems can be solved without resort to mass-burn incineration… Innovation in the waste industry means that we in Ireland have the opportunity to solve our problems without […] incineration.”
Reality: The FF/PD Government is fully supportive of the planned 750,000 tonne mass-burn incinerator at Ringsend, and has voted down the Green Party’s proposals to scrap the project.
VRT
Promise: “We will rebalance the Vehicle Registration Tax regime to favour vehicles with lower carbon dioxide emissions”
Reality: The current budget gives a 50 per cent relief for electric cars only, the cost of which is “unlikely to be significant.” Reform of VRT long-fingered until after the election.
Integrated ticketing
Promise: “The maximum degree of integration will be achieved between the different modes of transport and integrated ticketing will be introduced to enable passengers to make easy transfers.”
Reality: Eight years on, and at a cost of approximately €40m, there is still no integrated ticketing system in Dublin
LUAS
Promise: “The Progressive Democrats will extend the network so that three additional sections are operational by 2006 […] We will extend: Line A from Red Cow to Citywest and Saggart, Line A from Connolly to Docklands, and Line B from Sandyford to Cherrywood.”
Reality: No Luas extensions
Public transport
Promise: “By transforming public transport we can translate increased prosperity into improved quality of life by cutting congestion and reducing commuting times. [We can] protect the environment and meet our Kyoto targets by shifting people from cars to more environmentally friendly modes of transport.”
Reality: Mileage by private cars increased by 13 per cent from 2001 to 2005. Road transport accounted for 65% of the total fuel consumption in the transport sector and thus for 26% of economy wide total final consumption in 2005.
Health
Promise: “The Progressive Democrats will ensure that in the next government, regional cancer care centres are established so that patients to not have to travel 100 miles for on-going radiotherapy. This will be an immediate priority for us.”
Reality: Seven years after its introduction, the BreastCheck service is still not available nationwide, and approximately 65 women die every year because there is no screening for breast cancer in the west and south. Cancer patients are travelling from Donegal to Dublin for essential radiotherapy. Men with prostate cancer can wait up to 15 weeks after diagnosis for a first appointment for radiotherapy treatment. A state-wide network of radiotherapy services for cancer patients will be delayed until 2014 because of Mary Harney’s method of using public private partnerships.