John Gormley

– Gormley accuses cowardly PD Leader of avoiding him and challenges him to debate

The Green Party has called on Michael McDowell to stop his smear campaign against the Green Party and answer questions about his knowledge of Bertie Ahern’s financial arrangements. Green Party Chairman John Gormley TD challenged the PD Leader to a debate on these issues. He claimed McDowell had avoided appearances on any TV or radio station with him over the last five years.

Deputy Gormley said: “Since the beginning of this election campaign, Michael McDowell has engaged in a smear campaign against the Green Party. He has issued leaflets in my constituency which have no basis in fact and he has refused totally to engage in any debate with me when challenged to do so. If he is so sure of his ground, then he should be prepared to defend his outrageous claims.

“Instead of engaging in smear tactics and negative campaigning, McDowell ought to clarify exactly what he knew about the Taoiseach’s very strange financial arrangements. In particular he should answer the following questions:

• Did he know about the €30,000 that Michael Wall gave to the Taoiseach’s former partner, Celia Larkin?
• Was he given to understand that Ms. Larkin was operating a bank account for the Taoiseach?
• When the Taoiseach failed to disclose this last autumn, why did McDowell also choose to stay silent on this important piece of information?

“Above all else, there is one central question that he needs to respond to – why has he not kept an eye on Fianna Fáil, as he promised to do when he climbed up the infamous lamppost with the ‘One party government – no thanks’ poster in 2002? People are genuinely disappointed in his performance and the fact that he has reneged on this commitment to maintain high standards in government. McDowell has been taking pot-shots at the Greens and then running away. It’s time he stood his ground and stopped acting the coward.”

- Green Party would impose poster limits for future elections

Green Party Chairman and Director of Elections, John Gormley TD said today that the election poster campaign has got out of hand and needed to be properly regulated in the future. He promised that if the Green Party entered government they would introduce European style limits on political advertising.

Deputy Gormley said: “The amount of posters used during an election has got completely out of hand. In my own constituency of Dublin South East there is scarcely a pole left such was the onslaught yesterday morning and afternoon. There are an unprecedented number of posters, mostly, it has to be said, from Fianna Fail, Fine Gael and the PDs – the parties who receive most from big business.

“Of course the smaller parties are then forced to compete with this, thus increasing the number of posters they use, leading to a type of postering madness that we are now witnessing. If the Green Party becomes part of the next Government we will ensure that the following measures are introduced:

1. A limit of 150 posters per candidate to be erected at official City Council sites, which are now used to advertise official events (these brackets on lampposts can be seen already in certain city centre locations). This is a practice in other European cities and would bring a degree of civility to election campaigns. The current free-for-all is unsustainable to say the least.
2. In relation to election literature, each party should have the opportunity to print a synopsis of their policies in one official booklet which would be sent to each household. This would, again, help to stop the proliferation of election leaflets going through people’s doors. Most of this election literature ends up in the Green bin in any case.
3. There must be much stricter election spending limits, not just at election time but between elections. It is very noticeable that the government Parties sent out very expensive newspapers over the weekend in the full knowledge that the election was just about to be called and that the spending limits would be imposed.

“Not only will the above measures even the electoral playing field – they would also spare the voter the onslaught of posters and leaflets and be far better for the environment,” Mr. Gormley concluded.

– Govt has abandoned 2001 health strategy, says Gormley

The Green Party today outlined its vision on reforming the health service, and promised to deliver 2,000 extra acute beds in its first five years in government, in a bid to end the ‘national emergency’ in Ireland’s A&E units. Speaking at the launch of Party’s policy document on hospitals and funding this morning, Health spokesperson John Gormley TD said that the Green Party would also stop Mary Harney’s ‘co-location’ plans to build private hospitals on public land.

Deputy Gormley said: “There are very few people on the front lines of medicine who advocate co-location. Indeed many respected health experts have described the idea as ‘cloud cuckoo land’. If we want to improve our public health service then we must invest in public beds, not private, for-profit hospitals, which will undoubtedly cherry-pick the least-complicated and most profitable procedures, leaving the most difficult tasks to public hospitals. This move will also result in higher premiums for the privately insured. If insurance costs continue to rise, then more people will be forced back into a seriously depleted public system. The Green Party is making it very clear today that we will scrap these plans. It would appear from some reports that there is also little enthusiasm in some quarters of the HSE for this hair-brained scheme.

“Many of the problems of our health service can be traced back to a lack of acute public beds, intensive care unit beds and step-down staff. The Green Party is committed to implementing the 2001 health strategy, which the FF-PD Government has totally abandoned. We will invest in 400 acute beds per annum, over a seven year period. We will do the same in relation to step-down beds. This target allows for the improvement of bed capacity on a phased and planned basis, taking into account fluctuations in population. The main point in relation to bed capacity is that there has been a 25 per cent reduction in beds since the 1980s, in startling contrast to the 25 per cent increase in population.

“The Green Party has already published a comprehensive document on primary healthcare. In our first term in office we would like to introduce free primary healthcare for the under sixes. It is our aim to phase in free access to primary healthcare for all citizens over a ten year period.

“About 53 per cent of our population has private health insurance and the Green Party believes that community rating and risk equalisation are the fairest ways to ensure equality of treatment for those taking out insurance. It is clear, however, that increasing numbers of people are turning to health insurance because they lack confidence in our public health system. If we are to begin to tackle the two-tiered health system we must start investing in crucial elements of the public health service. It should be noted that A&E units do not distinguish between public and private and that, similarly, over 73 per cent of people in our public hospitals, whether they be private or insured, come through A&E.

“We are committed to providing an extra consultants for the public health service. But it is clear that money is not the only impediment to achieving a satisfactory resolution to the ongoing dispute with consultants. Many consultants who are committed to delivering a top-class public health service have stated that the contract, as advertised, lacks sufficient administration time. These issues cannot be ignored, and indeed, should have been resolved years ago.”

“We also believe that greater efficiencies can be introduced into the system in relation to types of payment and that the HSE must become more accountable,” concluded Deputy Gormley.

Statement by Green Party Chairman John Gormley TD:

“It now appears that Tánaiste Michael McDowell has pulled back from his headline grabbing statement in relation to the Poolbeg incinerator. Yesterday Mr. McDowell was quite emphatic when he said that the PDs would not agree in Government to finance the Poolbeg incinerator, effectively making this a pre-condition for Government.

“Today at a press conference he stated that the incinerator would have to be consistent with Government policy. As usual, this clarification will not get the same publicity as his previous statement. The fact is that Dick Roche has agreed that the Poolbeg plant is consistent with Government policy and Michael McDowell has had ample opportunity to stop this incinerator while sitting at the cabinet table.

“The Green Party put down a private members’ bill on the issue and the PDs voted it down. Michael McDowell at the last election implied that stopping the incinerator was a condition for Government. He’s trying to perform the same trick again. On this occasion, the voters in Dublin South East have wised up to his posturing.”

Green Party Chairman and Dublin South East TD John Gormley has accused Michael McDowell of opportunism on the issue of the proposed incinerator at Poolbeg.

Deputy Gormley said: “This latest election promise is a pathetic last gasp effort to regain credibility on the issue. People should see through this election gimmick. Stopping the incinerator was a central plank of Michael McDowell’s election campaign in 2002. He told voters that he would be best placed of all the candidates to stop the project as he would be sitting at the cabinet table and could change government policy. Once elected however, Minister McDowell forgot about that promise

“The record shows that the government voted down a Green Party motion to stop the incinerator. We have been very clear that in government this incinerator will not go ahead.

“I believe that the planning case against this incinerator is unanswerable. The site selection process was flawed, the traffic impact would be disastrous and, most importantly, there is no need for this massive facility. However, in the past we have seen cases where the An Bord Pleanála’s inspector recommended against the project on planning grounds, only to have this decision overturned by the Bord on the basis of ‘government policy’. This is what happened with the incinerator at Ringaskiddy, and more recently with the redevelopment of Lansdowne Road stadium.

“A recent independent report on waste management in Ireland found that our reliance on incineration is in fact a major impediment to meeting our targets under the EU Landfill Directive. This report, by leading European environmental consultants Eunomia, found that alternatives to incineration could be put in place more quickly and at less cost. We urgently need a change in Government policy, otherwise we will be lumbered with a collection of massive incinerators, which, in the words of Dr Dominic Hogg, the author of the Eunomia report, will ‘crowd out recycling options’.

Green Party Health spokesperson John Gormley TD has called on the Government to set a date for the introduction of a 35-hour working work for nurses, before an all-out strike occurs.

Deputy Gormley said: “We now have seven days in which the Government and the HSE can de-escalate this dispute. This could be resolved by giving the nurses’ representative bodies a date for the introduction of a 35-hour week. If this was done any outstanding problems in relation to pay increases under benchmarking could be quickly resolved.

“The nurses have indicated that they are more than willing to be flexible and they do not want this dispute to escalate into full-scale industrial action. It is regrettable that their expectations of flexibility from the Government and HSE, was not fulfilled.

“In a letter to the INO the Taoiseach indicated that the Government was prepared to engage fully and with an open mind with the nurses’ representatives. Regrettably this did not happen. Instead any attempt to get a date for the introduction of a 35-hour week was resolutely refused.

“The Green Party believes that the nurses and their unions have legitimate grievances and the Government must face up to these by setting a date for the introduction of a 35-hour working week to bring this dispute to an end.”

I raised the issue of the smell from the Ringsend sewage treatment plant – which was bad in the third week of March - at a meeting with the City Manager on Friday last. Matt Twomey, the Assistant City Manager, insisted that the smell problem had been dealt with and that the tenders for the proposed extension were now being finalised. I know from my conversations with the engineers there that this is largely a capacity problem. The plant was actually running at full capacity when it was commissioned. Dick Roche has refused repeatedly to conduct an investigation into how such a fundamental error could occur. This is the same man who wanted an investigation into the Galway drinking water problem – although he seems to have gone quiet on the investigation idea over the weekend. An investigation would reveal a lot about the workings of his department and their role in the drinking water problem not just in Galway but elsewhere. Bad planning is the root cause of these problems, and our Minister for the Environment has allowed this laissez faire planning to continue in the country.

The real solution to the odour problem in Ringsend is to extend the existing plant and to build a series of smaller plants elsewhere in the city. As we have seen first-hand here, the mega engineering solution does not work. In fairness, I recall my former colleague, Cllr Claire Wheeler, making this point at the time.

I also raised the issue of the inadequate protection for the new playgrounds in Ringsend Park. The Manager promised that he would look into this.

– Minister must investigate unused funds and call off FF attack dogs

Green Party Chairman and Health spokesperson John Gormley TD today accused Environment Minister Dick Roche of engaging in spin and smear and called on him to concentrate on solving the problems of water contamination in Galway and elsewhere.

Deputy Gormley said: “The Minister’s implication that Mayor Niall Ó Brolcháin had access to €21.5m is absolutely absurd. What the people of Galway need now are practical solutions, not ridiculous accusations, and a full investigation of what occurred. Any such investigation will quickly reveal that Mayor Ó Brolcháin has for years been striving – often on his own – to improve the safety of water on behalf of the people of Galway.

“The Mayor has a thick file containing the representations he has made to city officials and the Government over the years on the urgency of upgrading Galway’s water treatment facilities – the very issue which has led to this dangerous outbreak of cryptosporidium.

“The €21.5m allocated by the Government for capital investment in Galway’s water treatment facilities was available only to city officials, and was beyond the budgetary control of elected councillors. The Mayor would dearly love to have been able to use these funds for their proper purpose, but the reality, under the current political system, is that elected local authorities simply do not have sufficient powers. The disaster in Galway adds a great deal of impetus to our calls for political reform in order to give local authorities and directly elected mayors the powers they need to properly serve their communities.

“The Minister should launch an independent investigation into why council officials did not make use of funds available for capital investment in the city’s water treatment facilities sooner.

“While Niall Ó Brolcháin was striving to protect public health, the Fianna Fail members of Galway City Council either did nothing or mocked him, in one case accusing him of scare-mongering. The Minister should call off the attack dogs, and silence his two-faced colleagues on Galway City Council. I am convinced they will be considerably quieter when the truth of their own inaction emerges from this crisis.”

Deputy Gormley meanwhile praised the efforts of the Deputy Mayor of Clare, Cllr Brian Meaney, who has been actively trying to improve water quality in Clare since he was elected to the county council, and who now faces a potential cryptosporidium crisis in his own county.

“Cryptosporidium is already in the water supply in Ennis and it may only be a matter of time before levels surge and an outbreak occurs. A lack of infrastructure and a failure to update an antiquated water supply, which also leaks millions of litres of water a day, has led to this situation. The Government needs to listen to Cllr Meaney and take action in Clare before it is too late.” Deputy Gormley warned.

Dublin City Council has decided to grant permission for the proposed development at the corner of Upper Leeson Street and Appian Way. As you may know, I joined residents in objecting to this development, on the grounds of its negative impact on the character of the area, traffic and road safety, and the loss of mature trees and green space.

There are a number of conditions attached to this decision, including a requirement to remove two floors of the proposed building, and you can download a copy of the full decision from the link below:

DCC decision on planning application at Leeson Street and Appian Way (TIFF format)

The Green Party today reiterated its total opposition to the Government’s ‘co-location’ plans to build private hospitals on public land.

Green Party Health spokesperson John Gormley TD said: “I stated quite clearly at our party conference last month that the Green Party, in Government, is strongly opposed to the building of private hospitals on public land and would end any tax breaks that might aid the privatisation of our health service. If in Government with like-minded parties, it is clear that these building projects will very quickly run into difficulties. While we would honour contracts previously signed it would be hugely devious and dishonest of the outgoing Government to rush through these contracts in its final hours.

“The Progressive Democrats and their ideologically flexible allies in Fianna Fail are intent on entrenching inequality. We do not agree on the promotion of a two-tiered health system where treatment is given on the basis of ability to pay rather than medical need. Fianna Fail, in the past, has committed itself to equal access of all patients. This latest move by the PDs runs in the face of that. If Fianna Fail continues to support the PDs in these moves then it can no longer say it is committed to social justice,” Deputy Gormley concluded.