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At stake in government training talks.
Negotiators for Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael and the Green Party meet at the Department of Agriculture to try to reach an agreement.
The omens in the lead-up to Thursday’s first meeting were not good, as the Green Party delayed the appointment of its team.
Some interpreted it as another row in the ranks, given the internal dispute over reaching an agreement to take the plunge.
For detractors, it also emphasizes a weakness of the Green Party in that decisions are made by consensus.
But for acolytes, this is what sets the group apart, with its emphasis on democracy.
A councilor told me this week: “In the Green Party, the solution to everything is another meeting, and that is not bad.”
On the table for the Greens there are five TDs.
Three favored making the jump to the talks: Ossian Smyth, Roderic O’Gorman and Marc Ó Cathasaigh. The other two, Deputy Leader Catherine Martin and Neasa Hourigan, were against it.
The combination of views can actually play well for the Greens in pushing for the best deal.
Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael already had their people in line.
These are Michael McGrath, Barry Cowen, Anne Rabbitte, Dara Calleary, Thomas Byrne, and Darragh O’Brien for Fianna Fáil.
On the Fine Gael team: Simon Coveney, Paschal Donohoe, Heather Humphreys and Hildegarde Naughton.
The leaders of all three parties will now step back and allow their emissaries to do the job.
However, Eamon Ryan took the unusual step of carrying his loads into the building on the first day of proper conversations.
This was seen as an attempt to display unity in front of the waiting cameras.
Inside, the conversations are divided into lines. Top of the agenda is the Covid-19 emergency and a recovery plan to restart the economy.
In addition, climatic problems and the Greens’ insistence on an average annual reduction of 7% in greenhouse gas emissions.
But other possible clashes in politics have been overshadowed by this goal. Housing and transportation problems also expose the differences between the parties.
The Green Party wants public housing on public land and more rents (instead of for-profit rents).
It has already expressed concern that the Fianna Fáil-Fine Gael joint policy document has limited ambition in terms of the cost-rent model.
The two parties did not agree to a green request to exclude the construction of private homes on public land. Instead, they said that those who want to own their own homes should not be frozen.
This point of discussion was raised in the Dáil, Thursday night, in an ardent contribution by the new TD of the Green Party, Francis Noel Duffy.
He said he hoped the state would stop providing developer-led private housing on public land.
And he asked the Minister of Housing to commit to ending the Housing Assistance Payment, which he said was a “for-profit policy … that keeps the current generation out of the real estate market and creates a transitional workforce. “
In his response, Housing Minister Eoghan Murphy reaffirmed Fine Gael’s view that public land should be used for mixed development.
He said it made sense and that it was good planning for the community and everything else.
Finding a compromise in this politically sensitive area will be difficult.
Another battle line has been drawn over transport policy, always a key issue for the green base.
The party has asked that 20% of spending on transportation infrastructure be fenced for biking and walking and also that public transportation be prioritized.
This has alarmed some TDs who are concerned that it may jeopardize promised road projects in their areas.
Deputies have cited planned detours and highways as threatened.
Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael have agreed a 2: 1 ratio of spending on public transport versus roads, although they exclude the maintenance of that calculation. This means that it will not be easy to satisfy all parties to transport policy.
Alongside these conversations, independents are also being contacted for their support.
Eamon Ryan has been persistent and skilled in persuading a majority in the green parliamentary party to start talks. In fact, he has also bet his leadership on the result.
Ultimately, a deal is likely to be made because it must be done.
At that time, the 12 TDs in the Green parliamentary party will have to make an individual decision on whether they want to sell the deal to members.
Some may decide that they cannot.
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