"Green" policies are destroying this country

This dime bar is so detached from reality it's scary. He genuinely thinks a 75K loan over 20 years at 4% interest rate is a "game changer".

I actually got the term length wrong, it's over a 10 year max. So the repayments come in at nearly 700 per month. Pure lunacy

I mean, I think most of us would be delighted if there was a Metro finished by early 2030s. If he gets the railway order and some shovels in the ground during his tenure, along with other improvements in public transport, I'd be delighted with his term as Minister of Transport.

black mark how? it's progressing and looking more likely to be built than any previous attempts at a metro.

All of the massive amounts of red tape. Pretty sure hearings go ahead for the planning approval some time first quarter of 2024. Check out the thread on the Infrastructure forum on Metro, the transport nerds there seem pretty certain it's happening this time and keep up to date with all developments. It seems to be heading in the right direction, under the watchful eye of our hero Big Eam.

There are 2 million odd households in Ireland, so at circa 50k a year households it'll only take 40 odd years to retrofit them all with this scheme. What an achievement!

If the Greens actually wanted to drive down emissions, while helping improve the quality of life of people, they'd have brought in a very easy to qualify for no interest loan scheme. A whole house retrofit paid for upfront by the government, with say 80% of the electricity/heating savings then taken a month until the loan is paid off.

The home owner would still benefit from lower electricity/heating bills so it would be worthwhile for them, emissions would go down, and the cost to the state long term would be minimal - particularly at a time when we've got billions of excess euros sitting around not being used. Everyone wins.

Instead our Greens only introduce schemes like this which only already wealthy people could possibly use - the only households going to be able to add 700e a month to their monthly outgoings are those already very financially comfortable.

And at the same time they continually ratchet up taxes on everyone, making life even harder for the poor/working classes...

Its no wonder they're facing electoral wipe-out.

Where do you come up with this nonsense. Germany, Iataly or the other countries that would not sign off on this didn`t give a rats ass about e-fuels. As Carville said back in 1992, "It`s the economy stupid". But then perhaps you believe that jobs have nothing to do with economies..

E-fuels are just another of the green pipe dreams and were only a face saving exercise by the E.U. to cover that their plan to ban the sale of ICE vehicles after 2035 are dead and buried. E-fuels are at least double the price of petrol or diesel, where yet again there is no coherent geen plan to reduce their cost, and like the E.U. farce on wood burning, they would still emit CO2 and NO2.

Other than the E.U. presenting ever driver an EV within the next 11 years ICE vehicles using petrol will be manufactured and sold in the E.U. long after 2035, so just get over it

I’m in my late 60’s and I seem to recall talk about the underground for Dublin back in the early 2000’s. Yes he wasn’t in power then I grant him that but Gormley was in the late 2,000’s and the greens should have pursued this then , when they were in power.

why didn't FF/FG pursue it then and make sure it happened? gormley wasn't the minister of transport at the time.

If they would not waste money putting concrete slabs and metal poles on the road and making lane that barely any cyclist use pretty much blocking ambulances getting through as there is nowhere to move to let them go, then maybe they could move that metro project bit more significantly.

I think you can blame An Bord Pleannala for most of that, an outfit that seems almost unfit for purpose, COVID would have slowed things down too.

This is a very puzzling exegesis. In the one hand you are against Europeans subsidizing Chinese imports. On the other hand you are disappointed anbout the prospect of adjustments for foreign goods to counteract the subsidies. Perhaps you think the CBAM is too little, too late?

Sadly many of the points you raise are not new to me. They were articulated extensively on the neighbouring island in the second half of the last decade

Thank you for your brilliant observation about how the intersection of demand and supply dictates the price of commodities.

I don’t know what any of this has to do with the price of car parts. I take it you now accept that neither the CBAM nor your unspecified certification scheme will have any real influence on the price of German car parts.

There are several cross currents.

EU politics are out of step with national politics on some key issues across the entire zone. Policies that originate from Brussels are encroaching on issues of national politics, as members of the public we have no direct say on matters that impact our lives. The local establishment apparatus have long sold out, especially in the aftermath of the EU/ECB sponsored bailouts of the 2010s that saved their hides. We read rumours in the media of local politicians names associated with the jobs in the EU gravy train, previously this was used to cynically get rid of challengers to the party leader, now it seems to be a career path.

Accommodation, immigration and environmental policies are proving to be the most contentious across the block, prior to this year anyone who as much as raises questions or expresses their concerns get jumped on by the local establishment with epithets such as far right, climate denier and hate speech. The events of 2023 have changed attitudes, every politician in the country has been contacted by many constituents opposing hate speech laws. I have no knowledge of that level of engagement happening on matters that did not involve a referendum.  Recently, a politician who showed up to shake hands with people attending a constituents funeral, was quietly spoken to (was not me) as he was about to get in his car on said topic of the day, all polite and above board. The feedback they are getting can be at odds with the mainstream narrative.

Keeping this topic strictly to environmental issues, opposition has come about that was not there previously.  Farmers Alliance Ireland are today a fringe organisation, however, they did not exist prior to the green agenda. It takes a while to organise a cohesive group. The larger farmers lobbies tend to play the game, sniff around to see what's in it for them and protest when the government won't buy them off.

• EU will regret making farmers scapegoats for climate change
• Tánaiste meets protesting farmers after they refuse to engage with Minister for Agriculture

Early commentary on the tenure of EU president Ursula von der Leyen has not been favourable, she is being tipped to fail upwards as head of NATO in 2024. Dutch politician Frans Timmermans who led the EU Green new deal has left behind a mess and not fared well in national politics. The more powerful lobby groups have come in an told EU and national politicians what is acceptable to them and I expect that soon enough "markets first" decision making might start happening, as the green jobs illusion fades away.

What is so difficult for you to get ?

2035 was not a "target" date. It was the date after which new ICE vehicles as proposed by the E.U. Commission would legally cease to to be available to purchase or register. That was the proposal both the Commission and Parliament voted on and passed and made media highlights as new ICE vehicles being banned for sale or registration in the E.U after your "target" date.

Except it`s not. Germany and others seeing the harm it would do to their economies rendered it null and void.

It is not "under negotiation". Frans Timmerman, the Green Deal Commissioner who was pushing for this to become legally binding within the E.U. (and since departed back home in a vain attempt at steadying the leaking ship) tweeted March 25. "We have found an agreement with Germany on the fuiure use of efuel in cars". Considering that e-fuel is at least twice the price of petrol or diesel that tweet effectively means that there is no "target" date, or any other date under negotiation to ban the sale or registration of ICE vehicles and you really do need to stop wasting others time and get over it.