The Green Party has announced plans to create 100,000 jobs between now and 2020 as part of a "green" recovery.
The party claims to have a proven track-record in the creation of employment, having delivered over 20,000 "green" jobs since 2007.
Its plans include investments in forestry, home insulation, eco-tourism, electricity interconnection and broadband. The Greens also propose transferring all public services to cloud computing and providing access for the private sector to Government data.
The party would abolish Forfás and redirect savings into the Enterprise Ireland and IDA grants, and it proposes the creation of a "green IFSC" for carbon verification and green financial services.
Party chairman Dan Boyle said its jobs policy was based on prudent financial planning with no promises of investment that the country cannot afford. "Our job creation plan is realistic but ambitious. And it will work."
"We are a party of difference and we are a party of new ideas." Mr Boyle said many of these ideas get called upon by the other parties but they started with the Greens.
Former Green minister Eamon Ryan said the greatest potential for large volumes of jobs was in the digital economy and Ireland was especially well placed to take advantage of developments in this sector.
Mr Ryan said only 10 per cent of Irish small businesses were online but he would like to see them all active on the internet so they could export. This could be accelerated by training young unemployed people as web experts and making them available to companies.
Mr Gormley said the Greens would be proposing a radical reform of severance payments for departing ministers in a policy document to be published later in the campaign.
Asked whether he would be collecting a severance payment himself as a departing minister, Mr Gormley said he didn't know. He hadn't discussed the matter with his family or the party.
He poined out that Green party politicians traditionally give a portion of their salary to the party.
