And they're off

It's all about the finish line.

That pic shows one of the UpStart crews getting ready for postering on Merrion Square this evening. I like their ideas about using creative election posters to spark a debate about creativity and the value of arts in public life.

It's also all about jobs. Many of the new jobs created in last few years have stemmed from the green policies that we've introduced in Government, and we can further if we're returned to the next Dáil.

I'm told that over 6,000 contractors have registered with the Home Energy Savings Scheme. That's real jobs, right now. Much of the money taken in in the carbon levy goes right back the people through grant aid and direct support for upgrading social housing.

It makes perfect sense to do this - to tackle climate change and to reduce our dependency on the €6 Billion of oil and gas that we import every year, particularly when oil has touched $100 a barrel again. Sure, that price goes up and down, but the direction has been upward, and the more we can wean ourselves off fossil fuels, the better.

Renewable energy is another plank of the green jobs strategy. It's about more than wind, it's about ocean energy: waves, tides and currents. It's about willow and other forestry crops that can provide fuels, and an income for farmers. It's about retrofitting office-blocks, homes and schools to cut down on energy use and create jobs in doing so. Energy efficiency and insulation is at the core of all this.

It's about the digital revolution - jobs in cloud computing, and in start-ups like the Media Cube on the campus of Dún Laoghaire's Institute of Art Design and Technology. You can see it in the presence of new media firms in Ireland like Facebook, and in new initiatives in cloud computing like the work of Salesforce over in Sandyford Business Park.

It's about design - Encouraging innovation and good design can spawn innovation, creativity and new employment. That's what happened when the Kilkenny Design Workshops were set up in the 1960's. Design has contributed to Denmark's economy and identity for over a century, and it's something we should be mainstreaming as part of our economic revival. There's signs of this happening through the Government Policy on Architecture and through Dublin's bid for World Design Capital 2014. I'm also enthused by groups like Upstart that are promoting creativity through their innovative posters that we'll be seeing more of over the next few weeks. I bumped into them at Merrion Square this afternoon and they're full of ideas. Arts, culture, design and creativity are all interlinked, and my hunch is that they've a lot to offer to Ireland's recovery.

Meanwhile back in the Dáil it was a whirlwind of a day. The Taoiseach gave a speech that was suprisingly statesmanlike, and quoted some great lines from the Poet John O’Donohue that are worth repeating:

"May you be hospitable to criticism. May you never put yourself at the centre of things. May you act not from arrogance but out of service. May you work on yourself, Building up and refining the ways of your mind. May those who work for you know you see and respect them. May you learn to cultivate the art of presence In order to engage with those who meet you… May you have a mind that loves frontiers so that you can evoke the bright fields that lie beyond the view of the regular eye. May you have good friends to mirror your blind spots."

It's good advice to anyone who aspires to public life.

Enda's speech lacked gravitas, and while at pains to respect Cowen's family, failed to rise beyond the usual point-scoring. Gilmore spoke about one Ireland with some well-written words. John Gormley made a strong plea for electoral form and looked towards a reduction in the number of TDs with half being elected from a list system, which seems to work well in the New Zealand system.

After a quick coffee with Senator Mark Dearey I headed out the Rock Road to Blackrock and on towards Dún Laoghaire, getting used to a new ladder and stopping to climb a few lamp-posts, posters in hand and cable-ties between my teeth. I grabbed a slice of pizza in the office, met some of our poster crews, and headed off for a few hours canvassing, some more postering and then back home to write this.

These are busy times. Let's pace ourselves between now and the 25th February.

Medical card changes

Sorry.

That's the only word I can use to respond to the hurt and difficulty suffered by so many older people and their families over the last week.

The changes announced this morning (Tuesday 21 October 2008) have involved raising the income limits to €700 per week (€36,500 pa) or €1,400 per week (€73,000 pa) for a couple. Older people on this income or under will receive a full medical card. In addition, those with incomes above the threshold experiencing difficulty in meeting their medical needs will be eligible to apply for a medical card under the discretionary medical card scheme.

A huge amount of the debate in my head has been about means testing. Just what should the State provide to everyone, regardless of their income or assets? Whether we like it or not, that answer has to change, depending on the state of the economy.

One thing is certain; this is only the beginning of a huge challenge to tackle the economic difficulties of Ireland Inc. There may be a ten billion hole in the finances, and the hundred million euro mentioned in the context of medical cards is perhaps only 1% of the gap in the nation's finances that will need to be filled in the near future.
It begs the question as to whether we should continue to provide tax relief at source on mortgages and also on private medical insurance. The sooner we have a full reality check on the state of the nation’s finances, the quicker we’ll recover.
People have remarked on Brian Cowen’s ability to hold the line in the past, but this issue was different. This was unscripted, un-choreographed and straight from the heart. Many of the phone calls and emails have been from people who had difficulty sleeping since Budget day; people who have a State Pension, and sometimes only €2500 or even under €500 a year on top of that. Ironically, many women have small pensions because they had to leave their jobs due the marriage ban and only returned to work when that was reversed. That means they only contributed to a private pension for the last ten or fifteen years of their working life. Their pensions are small, and their fears are real.
I hope that today’s changes go some way towards meeting their concerns.

Where's Bertie?

It was the strangest of days, watching Bertie Ahern seated in the back benches next to Johnny Brady, the heckler in the back benches.

Then out into the sunshine, and a scene that was more like an all-Ireland than the plinth of Leinster House. Bertie came out too, and it seemed odd to see him mixing with the crowds of Cowen supporters , a bit like the ex-boyfriend at the wedding.

I had been a bit worried at Cowen's speech earlier: the only mention of green seemed to be his discussion of Des Geraghty's book, 'Forty Shades of Green'. ,Once copies of Cowen's speech were circulated I raced ahead as he named his cabinet to the last few pages of his script...

"...Our economic growth path has been the envy of many but now is the time to broaden our definition of the success of the nation. Economic growth must progress two pillars of sustainable development: society and the environment.

"The World faces challenges to redress the human impact on the environment, no more so than in the area of climate change...post-Kyoto commitments...environment and economy are interdependent...government can lead change in respect of the environment..."

Phew!

And Bertie? He's in the centre of the pic, between the window and the door of Leinster House. Though right now, I'd imagine he's walking through his beloved "Bot' " in Glasnevin, smelling the flowers, and plotting his next career move.

Kids in cars

Thanks for the observations on the brevity of my last blog entry. I did post it about 30 seconds after Bertie had given the date for the handover, so I was still in a state of shock.

The torch was formally handed over this morning, with the election of Brian Cowen as leader, with less scuffles than we've witnessed in London or Paris over the last few days, and he's on course to assume the mantle of Taoiseach on 7 May. It certainly takes the pressure off the Greens as we prepare for our annual Conference this weekend in Dundalk. I'm sure these first ten months of Government will seem like ancient history in a few years time.

I 'm warming to Cowen. It looks like what you see is what you get, and he doesn't appear to suffer fools gladly.

Meanwhile, billboard ads for Transport 21 have appeared. The small print states 'a better quality of life, better business and a better future for everyone.' But wait a second. I've a letter on my desk from Noel Dempsey dated 19 March asking me to make a submission on the sustainable travel initiative. 'At the moment the trends are unsustainable and, even after the massive investment in Transport 21, urban congestion could be worse and greenhouse emissions from transport much higher in 2020 than they are today.' Noel's words, not mine

Surely some mistake. I don't think it quite sends out the right message to have kids driving toy cars, but that's only a sidebar to the very real dilemma that faces both the Green Party and Noel Dempsey. There's a lull in public transport capital investment at the moment but a lot of substantial projects will kick in, particularly in Dublin over the next few years. However the National Roads Authority is well placed to spend money fast on roads. The creation of a Dublin Transportation Authority will improve the links between transport and land-use planning over the next few years, but rather than business as usual, maybe what we need is a National Transport Authority to ensure that rail and bus projects get fast-tracked to completion.

I'm pleased that the Programme for Government states that 'Multi-criteria analysis of all transport projects will take into account environmental factors on a whole project basis', but I believe we've got to tilt the funding balance much further towards public transport if we're to deliver sustainable transport over the next few years, and that requires institutional reform, as well as funding

Submissions on the Sustainable Travel Consultation Document can be made here, by Friday 18 April.