You have heard this a lot in recent weeks and will hear it ad nauseum over the coming weeks: You can’t achieve anything in Opposition. If you want to deliver even some of your policy agenda, you must enter Government.
This is the main argument those opposed to the Green Party entering coalition Government are hearing at the moment – and it’s really, really annoying, not to mention disrespectful to the work Eamon Ryan, Catherine Martin and Grace O’Sullivan, their staff and campaigners have done in recent years.
The Green Party achieved plenty during the term of the 32nd Dáil, both inside the chamber and outside. The problem is many of these achievements were indirect – as in the Greens forced the Government to act due to the huge swell of support for Green Party motions, Bills, and campaigns. Just because it wasn’t a Green Party Minister or a Green Party Government announcing measures the Greens campaigned for does not mean they are not Green achievements.
Many of the people reading this will be environmentalists. When it comes to climate, we understand the difference between direct and indirect causation. For example, we cannot say for certain that any particular extreme weather event was caused by human induced climate change. But we understand that the more carbon emitted into our atmosphere, the warmer our climate becomes, and the likelihood of these events increases. We can and do say that we have more extreme weather events overall because of human induced climate change.
Indirect causation applies to politics too. Opposition parties can and do achieve change, indirectly, by presenting policy alternatives that chime with the public to such an extent that it forces other political parties, including Government, to move towards them.
One of the most clear-cut examples of this in recent years was on the contentious issue of water charges. Irish Water was established in 2013 by the Fine Gael Labour coalition Government – the Government which enjoyed the largest majority in the history of the Irish State. We all know what happened to water charges, but we often forget how it happened – it happened because Anti-Austerity Alliance – People Before Profit won a by-election in Dublin South-West that everybody expected Sinn Féin to win. Paul Murphy successfully outflanked Sinn Féin on the water charges issue, arguing they couldn’t be trusted, which caused a policy shift in Sinn Féin to a more hard-line opposition to Irish Water and Government plans. The subsequent rise of Sinn Féin, with this more hard-line policy on water a central theme, then forced Fianna Fáil to revise their policy, and following the 2016 General Election, water charges were scrapped following the confidence and supply arrangement reached by Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael. I don’t think many would argue that the scrapping of water charges wasn’t an achievement by AAA-PBP, whether you agree with them or not.
Now, on to the Green Party in the 32nd Dáil and 25th Seanad. The Green Party achieved a hell of a lot over the last 4 years, both directly and indirectly, and I will not entertain the disrespect to the Green TDs, Senator, staff, Councillors, campaigners and supporters implied by the suggestion you can achieve nothing in opposition.
Among my favourite Green Party achievements in recent years is the extension of maternity leave for the mothers of premature babies. Catherine Martin worked with the Irish Premature Babies NGO to bring this issue to the fore. There was unanimous support across the Dáil for the motion, with TDs telling their own personal stories of premature births in their families. The provisions in the motion were included in the subsequent budget by the Government – and now 4,500 families every year benefit from extended leave to compensate for time spent in hospital.
Others achievements include:
Saving Ticknock Forest
In 2017 Coillte, the State’s forestry agency, planned to clear-fell large sections of Ticknock Forest in the Dublin Mountains. The area is a fantastic amenity, and 160,000 people visit every year for recreational purposes. After concerns were raised by Eamon Ryan in the Dáil to the plan, and local campaigns mounted against the idea, the plans were halted.
Citizens’ Assembly on Climate Change
In 2016 the Government introduced a motion to the Dáil for the establishment of Citizens’ Assemblies to consider a range of issues, including the repeal of the 8th Amendment. The Green Party amended the motion to include for an Assembly on climate change. This amendment was accepted, and the Citizens’ Assembly went on to produce a landmark report calling for ambitious action on climate, and found widespread support for the measures needed.
Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action
Following the publication of the Citizens’ Assembly on Climate Change, the Green Party called for the establishment of a dedicated Oireachtas Committee to consider and make recommendations based on the report. This call received support across the Oireachtas. The result was another landmark report - Climate Change: A Cross- Party Consensus for Action.
Heritage Bill
The Green Party was at the forefront of the battle against Fine Gael’s destructive Heritage Bill in the Oireachtas. Dubbed the ‘Slash and Burn’ Bill, it would allow for the extension of the seasons where hedge cutting and gorse burning is allowed – threatening endangered species during nesting season. There was widespread opposition from NGOs and the public, with over 30,000 people signing a petition against the Bill. While it ultimately passed, the extension provisions have not been enacted since, and the final Bill was watered down in other areas, thanks to the amendments passed from opposition.
Micro-beads Ban
In November 2016, then-Senator Grace O’Sullivan introduced the Micro-plastic and Micro-bead Pollution Prevention Bill, which sought to ban the sale of products containing ecologically damaging micro-beads in Ireland. The Bill was shot down in the Seanad by Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil, to dismay among environmental groups and the public. However, the Bill coincided with the massive uptick of public awareness around plastic pollution, and Fine Gael were forced to backtrack. The Green Party kept the issue on the agenda, and finally the Government passed a ban on these damaging products in 2018.
Oireachtas Women’s Caucus
Catherine Martin and her team spearheaded the establishment of the first Women’s Parliamentary Caucus in the Oireachtas. The group was established to discuss issues of concern that disproportionally affect women. The group gained support from across all parties in the Oireachtas and was responsible for improved terms and conditions for workers in Leinster House when it came to bullying and harassment. Catherine also led the organisation an international congress of women’s caucuses, and the caucus led to the introduction of measures to tackle period poverty.
Building Standards
Catherine Martin, along with Eoin Ó Broin from Sinn Féin, have been pivotal in pushing latent building defects to the fore in the media. She introduced a motion to the Dáil on this issue, which passed with cross-party support, and highlighted the issue consistently in the media. In early 2020, the Government announced the extension of a defective building scheme to cover mica, with over 4,500 homes in Donegal and Mayo affected. The redress scheme was bigger than the original scheme to cover pyrite defects.
Plastic Waste Reduction
The Green Party’s Waste Reduction Bill, which sought to tighten restrictions on plastic waste and to introduce a deposit and refund scheme on plastic bottles. The Bill attracted huge widespread support and helped put the issue of plastic waste to the fore. The campaign was supported by NGOs, who organised drop-off days for plastic waste in supermarkets. Fine Gael blocked the Bill using administrative blocks in the Dáil. The campaign was so successful, the Greens introduced a second motion on the issue, looking for the original Bill to be progressed. Unfortunately, it was stalled again. However, the Government has since acted on plastic waste, introducing new sustainable public procurement rules, and banning certain single use plastics.
Ban on offshore oil exploration
The Green Party vociferously supported Bríd Smith’s Climate Emergency Bill, which sought to ban any future offshore oil and gas exploration. The Bill was very close to the aims of the Green Party’s Keep It In The Ground Bill, so the Greens dropped our legislation to back People Before Profit’s. This campaign attracted huge support from environmental NGOs and civil society. The campaign was opposed by Fine Gael and blocked using the same administrative measures used to block the Greens’ Waste Reduction Bill.
However, shortly after the Green Party’s record success in the Local and European Elections in 2019, the Fine Gael government reversed their decision, and announced a ban on oil exploration, with a plan to phase out gas, as well as increased ambition in a number of other environmental policy areas.
Regulation of Online Political Activity
There has been huge controversy in recent years around online political campaigning, foreign influence in elections and referenda, and the regulation of this activity. Eamon Ryan was a member of the International Grand Committee on Disinformation and Fake News. While regulations have not been legislatively updated as of now, social media companies have introduced much stricter controls on advertising in response to the increased scrutiny. Twitter has banned political advertisements, and Facebook has introduced much stricter transparency and verification protocols.
Additional environmental measures that passed from the opposition in the 32nd Dáil included Thomas Pringle’s Divestment Bill, which saw Ireland’s sovereign wealth fund divest from fossil fuels.
A ban on fracking in Ireland passed following a Bill introduced from Fine Gael TD Tony McLoughlin. This was not a Government Bill but proceeded through the legislative process with support from all opposition parties.
To conclude, it is fundamentally incorrect to say that nothing can be achieved through a strong, principled and constructive opposition party holding the Government to account. Many scandals have been exposed by opposition TDs, and plenty of progress instigated by them.
I could write on this all day, but I hope this provides at least some food for thought. And when you see someone say ‘you can’t achieve anything in opposition’, show them this.
By Gavin Nugent
