GREEN PARTY chairman Senator Dan Boyle has expressed his support for party leader John Gormley remaining in Cabinet as Minister for the Environment.
“He’s doing an excellent job, and I want him to continue doing that job,” Senator Boyle told the Wide Angle programme on Newstalk radio yesterday morning.
The Green chairman was speaking against a background of reports that an internal party agreement provided for Mr Gormley to step down as Minister in favour of Dún Laoghaire Green TD Ciarán Cuffe.
He told presenter Karen Coleman “the only agreement within our parliamentary party is that, as regards to any changes in Cabinet personnel and the possible introduction of other people at junior ministerial level, that’s a decision for the party leader. That’s always been the decision.”
Asked why Mr Gormley would want to go to the back benches, he said: “If he does, it’s a matter for him, and it’s a matter of personal choice. My own expectation of John is that he is doing an excellent job, and I want him to continue doing that job.”
Regarding the possible allocation of a second junior ministerial post to the Greens, Senator Boyle said he believed there was an initial understanding, when the party first entered government in 2007, that this would take place half-way through the Government’s term of office.
Asked if he was still expecting a second position, given that the number of Ministers of State had been reduced, he replied: “The fact that they went up to 20 and down to 15 compromises the situation.”
Pointing to the number of posts held by the Progressive Democrats and Democratic Left parties in previous coalitions, he said: “There’s nothing unrealistic in what the Green Party is seeking and what we thought had already been agreed.”
Asked what would happen if the Greens failed to get a second junior ministry, he said the question of whether there would be a second position or a “super-junior” job with a Minister of State attending Cabinet meetings was “all a matter of discussion”.
Meanwhile, Fianna Fáil backbench TD Chris Andrews has expressed support for allocating a second junior Minister’s post to the Greens.
“If it means that there’s a bit of goodwill in the interests of stability it’s probably worth it,” he told The Irish Times. “Obviously things are pretty tense in the Greens. At the end of the day, it’s about stability.”
He added: “I would also like to see John Gormley stay on as Minister for the Environment. I think he’s doing as good a job as any Minister could do in the circumstances.”