The Green Party says it would pay for extra spending on health, education, housing and waste-management by cutting spending on roads and increasing some taxes.
At a press conference in Dublin yesterday, the party detailed 20 measures it would have taken if it had been in government for the past year.
On the Coalition's first anniversary, the party leader, Mr Trevor Sargent, said the Government's attempted defence of its record this week only added to public cynicism.
"The objective of the Green Party is to bring honesty, equity, ecology and long-term sustainable economics into Irish politics," Mr Sargent said at the launch of the document called What The Greens Would Have Done Differently in Government.
He said the "long overdue" introduction of an energy tax was not just a key revenue-raising measure but it also promoted efficiency and energy conservation "which will save Ireland having to pay an estimated €1.3 million a year in climate change levies as Kyoto deadlines for reducing CO2 emissions expire". The Government was walking the State blindly towards these deadlines as "runaway" CO2 emissions continued.
The Greens propose a new 45 per cent tax rate on income over €100,000, a new energy tax of €20 a tonne of CO2 emissions and an increase in corporation tax from 12.5 per cent to 15 per cent. They would reverse the last budget's €209 million increase in the road-building budget and cap contributions to the Government's Special Savings Investment Scheme.
Mr Eamon Ryan TD said the Government's roads programme was "far too expensive", saying the money would be better spent improving public transport.
With the €1,308 million extra Government revenue created, the party says it would reverse the VAT increase in the last budget, reduce employers' PRSI and increase the tax credit for single-income couples, thus reversing some of the effects of the Government's controversial tax individualisation policy.
It would also start building an extra 1,000 houses, invest €125 million in primary healthcare, the same amount on primary school building and €120 million on the provision of 200,000 new green "wheelie bins" for recycling.
They would increase social welfare payments, bring in more energy-efficient conversion grants, increase Ireland's development aid and reduce the Government's budget deficit by €240 million.
Mr Sargent said the Taoiseach was behaving hypocritically in relation to his penchant for opening pubs which he said was "bizarre" in the context of recent Government expressions of concern about Ireland's drinking culture.