Who would have thought it? At our last national convention we had prepared ourselves – agreed our policies; selected our candidates; for an election that could see the Green Party in government for the first time in our history.

That election was not what many people expected. Many voters retreated to traditional ways of voting. Our expectations were not realised. Disappointments were experienced, some of a personal nature. And yet when the dust settled we found ourselves in a position that we had not expected as the election count was progressing on that fateful weekend.

Outside of Fine Gael recovering the losses they had suffered in 2002, the Green Party/Comhaontas Glas was the only Irish political party to have increased its vote and not to have suffered any net seat losses. Because of that we found ourselves in a position we hadn’t expected to be in – talking about participation in government with people we had not expected to be doing business with.

This was our moment. This was the time when we put aside the taunts and the sneers and the unfair preconceptions of why it is we exist and what it is we believe in. We put to rest those assumptions of Greens being naïve or flakey. We showed ourselves to be disciplined and professional.

The process of negotiating a programme for government was not without its difficulties. We could not expect to achieve everything we had hoped for. Any programme for government involving very different political parties has to involve compromise. We needed to prioritise what we believed could be done quickly and we needed to determine what could be put in place in the medium and long term to bring about future benefits and improvements.

Let’s not be deflected by those who do not understand, or want to understand, what it is we are. Our principles are constant. What we believed before the election is what we believe now. Those who deliberately confuse the policies we can implement in government with our principles, are those whose political values, if they exist, and much less than ours.

Our programme for government contains firm commitments. While it is a template that the government will follow, it isn’t and cannot represent everything this government will do in its term of office. Being in government of itself offers opportunities for policy initiatives not envisaged during the negotiations. Because of this I am confident that not only should we take pride in what we have agreed, and what we are achieving, we can also be sure that there will be many more Green Party policy initiatives above and beyond what we have agreed with our partners in government.

Our presence in this government is obvious. We have secured significant cabinet positions. Our party leader John Gormley is Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government. Eamon Ryan is Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources. Our former leader Trevor Sargent is Minister of State with responsibility for Food and Horticulture. In their performance in government they have all shown themselves to be people of ability, commitment and unquestionable integrity.

Not only are we as a party achieving in the government departments where Green Party appointments have been made, in all other government departments Green Party policies that have been agreed in the programme for government are being implemented. But there is much that has been agreed in that programme, some things have only been partially implemented, many things have yet to be begun.

We have come a long way since that emotion soaked historic day at the Mansion House. We are now a party of government, a party with responsibility. We should no longer be seen as a party whose knee jerk reaction on any issue is to always to say no. We need to be seen as a can do party, as a solutions based party, as a party that addresses issues despite vested interests and not because of them.

What has been more than encouraging is that so many more people want to be part of what we as a party are trying to achieve in Irish politics. Party membership has increased phenomenally. Party branches now exist in more parts of the country. Already people of substance are identifying themselves as Green Party candidates for local and European elections of 2009. This will be the first set of national elections where we will be promoting what it is we have done in government.

These new very welcome members of our party have joined not only because of our changes in circumstance. Despite those changes the Green Party/Comhaontas Glas remains unique and distinct within Irish politics. Ours is a members led party. Since entering government we have held a number of special meetings for members in Dublin, Cork and in Belfast, to keep members informed and allow members to contribute to the implementing of the programme for government.

We have had elections for party positions that have been all been contested; the election for our new party leader, and the election that saw members present me with the honour of becoming Cathaoirleach of the party. We are a party that thrives on different perspectives being presented and being heard. While we continue to do so we will thrive.

Our members meeting in Belfast was particularly important. Coinciding with the annual meeting of the Green Party in Northern Ireland, the event was living proof of our existence as an All-Island party. The success of having three district councillors elected in Northern Ireland in 2005 was built on enormously by the election of Brian Wilson as a member of the Legislative Assembly. We need to further build on the reality of being an all island party by identifying the issues that are common throughout the island, and using our representation in each political chamber to bring about Green action and change.
We are coming into government during an uncertain time, politically and economically. As a party that has been disparaged in the past for even having a view on economics, the analysis we gave Irish voters during the general election can now be seen to be the most accurate and most honest of any other political party.

It is clear that for the next year and beyond we will not be enjoying the type of economic growth that had been experienced at the height of what has been casually known as the Celtic Tiger. Undoubtedly wealth has been created during the last fifteen years at a higher level than we have ever known in this history of the State. The spoils of that wealth creation have not altogether been spent wisely. There are many in our society who have not benefited proportionately from the perceived success of the Celtic Tiger. There remains a serious deficit in infrastructure. In government we must address these remaining imbalances.

With slower rates of economic growth and the need to readjust expectations, there should be one principle that informs our continued presence in government. In order to maintain and develop public services those who have benefited most during the Celtic Tiger years should be those who contribute most as we seek to develop a more sustainable economy, an economy that can withstand current international pressures.

In this regard the establishment of a Commission on Taxation is likely to be one of the most significant achievements of the Green Party in government. We need to develop a tax system that is equitable, effective and efficient. We need environmental taxes that can bring about a greater degree of fairness. The re-balancing of motor tax has been an important first step in this regard. We need to go further on this road with a reduction in the price of environmental goods and services through a shift to lower VAT rates.

We need a carbon levy that has people contributing according to the environmental costs they are creating, and not in continuing to have to meet the costs of our international environmental obligations through general taxation. We must offer taxpayers the incentive of paying less tax, by encouraging them to live their lives in the most environmentally friendly way possible.

We are the party that is most committed to removing the threat of fuel poverty from our society. Fuel allowance payments need to be dramatically increased and paid over a longer period. We must decrease our reliance on heat and energy provided through the burning of fossil fuels. We must retrofit most of our housing through adequate insulation to ensure that as little as possible of the heat and energy being produced is wasted,

We must do things not only because they are the environmentally right things to do, but because they are the socially just things to do. Action on these issues will be of most benefit to the older, the younger, and the poorest sections of our society. Succeed we must.

Another important area of our programme for government commitments relates to the reform agenda. Reforming the Dáil and the Seanad. Reforming local government and establishing an independent Electoral Commission. These are key Green commitments in the Programme for Government. Progress on some of these areas has been proceeding, and we continue to work on achieving these objectives. We are in government to effect changes which will ensure a more democratic Ireland in the future. An Ireland in whose politics our citizens can take a better sense of pride.

We cannot change what has gone before. We must work within the ethical framework we have. 0But we must bring about a better politics, and if our time in government does not initiate such changes our party as well as the country will be poorer for it.

Nor can we be any less diligent in progressing our social justice and welfare policies. We remain strongly committed to our proposals to increase access to the medical card system for children under six, or for those with an intellectual disability under the age of 18.

The formulation of a National Carers Strategy and the consultation process around the Green Paper on Pensions, are both areas that the Green Party has been contributing to. These are areas in which State needs to catch up and recognise the present and future needs of those affected.

Additional money was made available for education this year. It was less than we had had agreed to and far less than what we believed was needed. As a party we had been hoping for a significant frontloading of money to deal with continuing deficits such as with the school building programme, and the need to promote areas of particular educational need such as for children with autism. In the programme for government we succeeded in protecting the future of the existing 12 ABA schools, but the needs of this area are greater than that and we must not lose sight of seeing this commitment through. The government’s emphasis on maintaining infrastructural spending is correct, but our most important infrastructure is not in roads or buildings, it is in human capital. Because of this our commitment to education has to be one of our strongest in government.

We have followed through on our commitments with ongoing consultation with key interests groups. The publication of heads of the forthcoming Civil Partnership Bill show progress in an area, which while not an end in itself, sees significant movement in meeting the still unmet rights of the gay community.

We are succeeding in influencing other areas of policy. It was pleasing to see the announcement that investments from the National Pension Reserve Fund will no longer be made to companies that are involved in the manufacture of cluster bombs. This is the adopting of Green Party policy on ethical investment. There is now a need to create ethical guidelines to inform all the investment decisions of the National Pension Reserve Fund.

As a party in coalition every piece of legislation is subject to negotiations. Before the heads of a bill is produced, before a bill is first is published, and during the debating of a bill through all stages in both houses of the Oireachtas, we as party have opportunities to bring about change. Examples of bills where we have achieved such changes include The Control of Exports Bill, The Charities Bill and the ongoing process in relation to The Immigration and Residency Bill.

This is also a process that applies to Government motions and amendments to opposition motions. On a number of occasions over the past ten months we have sought the inclusion of particular terms in the wording of motions, especially in relation to support of the Mahon Tribunal. That we have succeeded and are succeeding with agreed motions and legislation, shows that we are a party that is an active, significant but also a distinct part of this government.

There are many people I wish to thank today – our new General Secretary; our National Office team; those in the Programme for Government office; our Researchers; our Press Officers in Dublin and Belfast; those who are working in Ministerial and Constituency offices, we have become a very professionalised outfit. Despite this, what it is we are, are those of you who are here today, those who serve on our National Executive Committee; those who attend National Council meetings, those who avidly involve themselves in their constituency groups. In thanking you I want to leave you with one final thought. Go back to your communities and remind your friends, your families and your neighbours that the Green Party is in government and that government is better for the Green Party being there.