Are Irish Greens any comparison to Australias Greens Party?

[mellie]

I couldn't help but notice some striking similarities between ours and Ireland's Green election manifesto, and look what they have in-store.


http://www.scribd.com/doc/48862206/Gree ... ed-Version

Just some of what Irish Greens plan to do

The Green Party will:
•
Using €500 million from the National Pension Reserve Fund, scale up the National
Retrofit Programme so that 100,000 premises will be retrofitted every year. This will
mean that 1 million homes will be insulated by 2020 and 25,000 new jobs will be
created under the Programme.
•
Develop and deliver a roadmap which allows for the development of ocean and tidal
energy, with a potential yield of €120 billion to the local economy and those 70,000
jobs.
•
Ensure that Ireland participates in the North Seas Offshore Grid Plan.

The Green Party will:
•
Introduce a Green Star rating system for Eco Tourism in Ireland.
•
Establish an Eco Tourism unit within Fáilte Ireland to coordinate, certify and promote
the Green Star initiative.

living.
•
Develop the potential for “Food Tourism”, starting with “food trails” and the provision
of food in public houses, particularly in rural areas.
•
Promote the development of cycling as a growth area for tourism.
•
Introduce an All-Ireland Walkways Development Plan, mapping out infrastructural
needs and routes and maximising their use. We will pursue the possibility of using
former railway infrastructure as recreational trails for walking and cycling etc. in
partnership with Iarnród Éireann.
•
Position the suite of
Discover Ireland
websites as exemplars for an information,
content and reservation tourism system, with ease of booking and comprehensive
linkages to industry platforms.
•
Promote the creation of marinas and youth and child friendly water sports to
encourage activity and awareness of our maritime country.
Sustainable Food
Irish farming already boasts an €8 billion export market based on the richness of our land and
the talent of our people. This sector employs around 110,000 both directly and indirectly.
Farming remains the lifeblood of our rural economy.
We can expand this sector by harnessing and growing our international reputation as ‘the
Green Isle’. By positioning ourselves at the premium quality end of the market, we can in fact
create more jobs and more value through lower intensity farming methods.
As part of the next government the Green Party will ensure that organic agriculture accounts
for 5% of our land. We will declare Ireland a GM-Free Zone and introduce a voluntary GM-
Free logo for use in all relevant product labelling and advertising, thereby optimising Ireland’s
competitive advantage as a GM-Free country.
We will introduce new public procurement guidelines that give greater weight to local produce
and we will promote a network of farmers' markets at Local Authority level to encourage more
direct selling from producers to consumers. These two initiatives will boost both local demand
and local employment.
The Green Party will:
•
Ensure the achievement of the target of 5% of land in organic agriculture and meet
the growing demand for domestically produced organic produce by providing
adequate resources and supports for the achievement of the target, with a focus on
import substitution in areas where Ireland is under-producing at present e.g.
horticulture. Beginning in 2010, and rising in subsequent years, we will step up
supports for the Organic Farming Scheme for conversion to organic production,
Capital Grants for the Organic Sector and Non-Capital costs.
•
Declare the Republic of Ireland a GM-Free Zone, free from the cultivation of all GM
plants.
•
Optimise Ireland’s competitive advantage as a GM-Free country, we will introduce a
voluntary GM-Free logo for use in all relevant product labelling and advertising,
similar to a scheme recently introduced in Germany.
•
Conduct a review of our National Food Security Policy to develop resilience in food
production capacity to future proof against substantial rises in price and diminishing
availability of oil and to meet the challenge of Climate Change.
•
Increase horticulture production to meet the requirements for Irish- produced fruit and
vegetables, in line with recommendations in the Obesity Report.