Government’s Green Week campaign ‘a bad joke’ says Laois-Offaly Green Party candidate

The Government’s Green Week campaign was “a bad joke”, according to Laois-Offaly Green Party candidate Pippa Hackett, who accused the Fine Gael Government of “greenwashing”.

Speaking in response to the campaign which ran from August 20 to August 24, Ms Hackett, who is the Green Party’s spokesperson on Agriculture, Forestry and Heritage, said: “In one way, you have to admire the brass neck of Fine Gael to run a ‘Green Week’ environmental campaign, given its appalling record in this area. However, the truth remains that this Fine Gael Government has failed completely in addressing important environmental issues, and in tackling climate change. A week-long spin campaign won’t change that.”

She went on to say that the campaign was deeply insulting to those who work so hard to improve and restore our natural environment. Ms Hackett said that since the 2016 General Election, Fine Gael, along with support from Fianna Fáil has placed Ireland as the second worst country in Europe on efforts to tackle climate change, which will likely see Irish tax payers pick up a €600m bill come 2020.

She also said the Government had opposed not only efforts to halt future fossil fuel exploration in Irish territory, but also the Green Party’s Waste Reduction Bill.

“The Government’s food policies (Food Harvest 2020 & FoodWise 2025) are also environmentally unsustainable. These policies are having a devastating effect on our water quality, our soil fertility, and our biodiversity, as well as driving up our agricultural emissions, and all with little or no benefits for the primary producers - our farmers,” said Ms Hackett.

“I believe people in the Midlands want to live in an Ireland that is truly green, and the current Government is just not cutting it. It is vital that we get more green voices into local and national government, so that we can drive these growing and ever-important environmental concerns, concerns that affect every single one of us – now and in the future.”