Govt Should Proceed With Green IFSC Centre

The leader of the Green Party in Ireland has said the Government should proceed with the Green Financial Services Centre that has been planned for the last three years.

Eamon Ryan said: "The initiative has gone through the most detailed assessment. It would require seed funding of €6.7 million but it would deliver an estimated 4,000 jobs which could provide employment for some of those people loosing their jobs in Ulster Bank today."

"The project was approved by the previous Government and should have been up and running last year. Instead we have seen only inertia and drift. The new Government says that the Green economy is going to be one of the main ways of turning our economy around but they don't seem to know what needs to be done."

The detailed plan for the Global Green Financial interchange in Dublin has been worked on by the state agencies, leading international consultancy companies and private sector financial institutions.

He continued: "The plan identifies a number of risks that would derail the project but the main one is that there would be a lack of political support which would allow other international locations get 'first mover' advantage in establishing their similar plans for green finance centres.

"Our public service and political system let us down by not providing prudent regulation of the financial sector. Unfortunately they now seem to be letting us down by not showing the ability to innovate to create new jobs and a more sustainable economic future."

(CD/GK)