Roderic O'Gorman: No Confidence - Will Vote Against Government
Roderic O'Gorman announces that the Green Party has no confidence in the government and will vote against it after a week in which ministers' actions worsened disruptions. He argues ministers caused confusion, harmed public services and put climate measures at risk by deferring the carbon tax.
Roderic O'Gorman sets out the Green Party's position: a formal no confidence stance and a vote against the government. He says the decision follows a week where government responses made a difficult situation worse, and that this is the necessary consequence.
O'Gorman details tangible harms: missed hospital appointments, delayed emergency vehicles, workers unable to get to their jobs, and continued disruption to fuel access. He ties these human costs to ministers' confusion and poor management during the crisis.
O'Gorman links the energy price crisis to Ireland's over-reliance on fossil fuels and recent international shocks. He warns that deferring the carbon tax now risks funding for the warmer home scheme and retrofit measures that reduce dependence on foreign fuels.
The leader urges a full economic transition to renewables, saying Ireland will remain vulnerable to energy shocks until it moves away from fossil fuels. He criticises the government for lacking belief in that transition and for undermining measures that build energy security.
No confidence vote
Roderic O'Gorman sets out the Green Party's position: a formal no confidence stance and a vote against the government. He says the decision follows a week where government responses made a difficult situation worse, and that this is the necessary consequence.
Immediate impact on people
O'Gorman details tangible harms: missed hospital appointments, delayed emergency vehicles, workers unable to get to their jobs, and continued disruption to fuel access. He ties these human costs to ministers' confusion and poor management during the crisis.
Energy policy and carbon tax
O'Gorman links the energy price crisis to Ireland's over-reliance on fossil fuels and recent international shocks. He warns that deferring the carbon tax now risks funding for the warmer home scheme and retrofit measures that reduce dependence on foreign fuels.
Longer-term consequences and call for transition
The leader urges a full economic transition to renewables, saying Ireland will remain vulnerable to energy shocks until it moves away from fossil fuels. He criticises the government for lacking belief in that transition and for undermining measures that build energy security.
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Transcript
The Green Party has no confidence in this government and I'll vote against it. Over the course of the last week, the actions of the government continually made a difficult situation worse. Ministers caused confusion, unnecessarily raised tensions and ultimately failed to protect the Irish people's ability to move and go about their business for five long days. Hospital appointments were missed, emergency vehicles were delayed, people couldn't get to work and vitally access to fuel was and continues to be disrupted. The origins of the energy price crisis is our country's over-reliance on fossil fuels and the war in Iran has shown for the second time in four years how our economy is totally at the mercy of the whims of Putin, of Trump, of the Ayatollah and yet as part of their response the government is undermining the very actions that will reduce our dependence on foreign fossil fuels. Measures like the warmer home scheme, measures like retrofit, the funding for these measures has now been put at risk by the deferral of the carbon tax. Our country will remain vulnerable to energy shocks until we transition our entire economy to renewable sources of energy and across the last 15 months this government has demonstrated that it does not possess the belief in that transition to be able to make the case for it to the Irish people.