We need new energy at top to take Ireland to the next level
WHEN politicians tell you that the people don’t want an election it only means one thing – the people want to go to the polls and they don’t.
This coalition Government has been in power for around four years and the time is fast approaching that it calls it a day and goes to the country.
And when you look at what is happening on the ground, with many serious issues waiting to be tackled, we desperately need new energy at the top and a new vision.
The biggest disappointment in Government without a shadow of doubt are the Greens and their wishy, washy ministers.
I expected Eamon Ryan to take his vast transport and energy department by the scruff of the neck and make Ireland the Saudi Arabia of wind energy with wind farms surrounding our western coastlines.
That would have made us self-sufficient in electricity with no reliance on foreign gas but it hasn’t happened.
G a r a g e owners tell me consumers are reluctant to buy electric cars because h e
didn’t ensure there were thousands of charging points nationwide.
Drivers are terrified that if they drive more than 200 to 300km they will end up with nowhere to charge their vehicle so much they prefer hybrids for reliability.
We built a runway at Dublin Airport but yet the Greens won’t let the daa raise the passenger cap from 34 to 40 million a year so airlines can continue to grow and bring more tourists into the country creating jobs and wealth.
They are cowardly hiding behind our insane planning system as an excuse to do nothing when the State could easily bring in a new law in the “national interest” to make it happen.
Between them Catherine Martin, who is in charge of tourism and Roderic O’gorman, the Integration
Minister have done more to damage the industry.
She sat on her hands and did nothing to keep the VAT rate for the hospitality sector at 9%. Ms Martin should have threatened to resign on the issue and then let the rate be increased back up to 13%.
Mr O’gorman’s department has been doing deals with hotels in towns and villages everywhere to accommodate Ukranians and asylum seekers.
This means in many places there are no beds for tourists – a bad place to be for a country dependent on tourism.
I wouldn’t even go into Ms Martin’s performance over the handling of RTE when she was asleep at the wheel most of the time because she didn’t want to get involved.
The Greens also brought in crippling carbon taxes and disenfranchised rural Ireland by not doing enough financially to help farming families reduce their emissions and still stay in business.
The only positives after four years of the Greens in power is they cut the cost of public transport and have improved it nationwide, along with thousands of miles of wonderful greenways that we can walk and cycle on.
Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has also run out of road.
When he came to office he carried the dreams of a nation with him.
But the Fine Gael leader sadly has turned out to be more spin than substance and the public is reluctant to trust him.
He is far happier shooting the breeze with world leaders than creating and implementing a strategy that will drive this country forward and spread wealth and prosperity.
While it is great unemployment is at rock bottom and we are continuing to create jobs, many working-class families are still struggling and need a leg up.
The housing situation is slowly improving but Varadkar or this Government has not done enough to help renters.
We need a new generous national grant aid scheme to help shop owners renovate their buildings so families can live above the shop like they used to years ago.
In every corner of Europe and America I have visited there are apartments over shops and the people living in them are the engines of urban centres.
I hope the General Election will be held in the autumn and each and everyone of us can have our say about how we can move the country forward.
Greens are cowardly hiding behind our insane planning laws