A big thank you to everyone in Sligo, Leitrim and Roscommon who voted for the Green Party on Thursday 24th.

On a tough day for small parties, the Green Party polled over 3% in Sligo and Leitrim, up from 0% in 2002! This was one of the biggest increases in the Green Party vote anywhere in the country.

We also polled 8% of 1st preference votes in Carrick on Shannon, and 6% in Drumshanbo and Leitrim.

Roscommon was always going to be a tough call, given the party’s very low profile in the county and the significance of the hospital issue, but the Party did poll well in Cortober and North Roscommon.

This General Election has established the Green Party as a political option in the North West. We will now redouble our efforts, keep raising the issues that the other parties don’t want to talk about and challenge again the next time the people go to the polls.

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A number of people have expressed concern that the Green Party wants to raise all sorts of taxes, so I thought I would write a post to clarify.

Income Tax

We will not change the current standard rates of 20% and 41%

We will reduce both employers and employees PRSI (offset against carbon levy)

We will increase Capital Gains Tax from 20% to 25%

VAT

We will reduce both the standard rate and higher rate by 1%

Business Tax

We will not change the current Corporation Tax rate of 12.5%

We will re-introduce a capped Bank Levy for 5 years

Land Tax

We will replace Commercial Rates with a Site Value Tax

We will introduce a Windfall Tax on land that increases in value due to rezoning

Environmental Tax

We will introduce a carbon levy of €20 per tonne (offset against PRSI reductions)

We will replace VRT with a levy that reflects the fuel efficiency of the vehicle

We will replace Motor Tax with a levy on petrol and diesel

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In Ireland today, there are only 6 National Parks, none of which are in the Midlands, and none of which relate to our longest and most well-known river, the Shannon (the parks are: Killarney, Glenveigh, The Burren, Connemara, Ballycroy and the Wicklow Mountains).

National Parks are managed by the Office of Public Works, unlike Forest Parks, which are managed by Coillte, and are maintained as showcases for our heritage and landscape. The towns and villages that our closest to our National Parks are our most well-known tourist destinations.

The Green Party believes that we should have many more National Parks, and I believe that Lough Key is an ideal location for a National Park.

At this stage, it should be clear to Roscommon County Council that introducing high-impact development directly into Lough Key will be extremely problematic. I would like to see Roscommon County Council formulate a campaign to have Lough Key declared a National Park. It is a campaign I will strenuously support. I believe that this in the only way the full economic potential of Lough Key can be realised.

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