Irish Greens back government deal

The Green convention in Dublin backed the government plan in 523-99 vote

Ireland's Green Party has backed a new programme for government and plans to deal with toxic debts in Irish banks, removing the risk of snap elections.

Party members backed the move in a 523-99 vote, surpassing the two-thirds majority required.

The Greens and their government partner, Fianna Fail, agreed the programme on Friday.

Defeat for the motion would have torpedoed the coalition led by Prime Minister Brian Cowen.

The Greens also rejected a motion opposing the setting up of the National Assets Management Agency (Nama) - the repository for the so-called "toxic loans" dragging down the Republic's banking system.

The programme proposes that if a loss is made over time, a levy would be imposed to recoup the cost to taxpayers.

Participating institutions will be obliged to offer a deposit account which will be ring-fenced for lending to environmentally friendly projects.

The government programme also means third-level education fees will not be introduced and 500 extra teachers will be hired.

Party leader John Gormley said earlier that the changes in education were being backed by the teachers' unions.

The former Green Party leader, Trevor Sargent, said the deal that had been secured was better than many people expected.

Office

The document is designed to provide the basis for government action until the end of its term of office in 2012.

About 50 members of Union of Students in Ireland earlier gathered outside the RDS in Dublin to urge Green Party members to vote in favour of the new programme, while other protestors called on the Greens to pull out of government.

The Greens, who entered the Irish government in 2007 for the first time, were all but wiped out in local elections in June amid public anger over the administration's handling of a severe recession.

Recent polls in the Republic have suggested that the coalition partners would perform very badly in a general election.

Other measures include the declaration of the Republic of Ireland as a GM-free zone; working towards the deployment of 6,000 electric vehicles over the next three years; the introduction of a civil partnership bill before the end of the year and an end to long-term homelessness by the end of 2010.