Business will miss the Green Party now it is goneDespite all the guff about corporate responsibility and carbon neutrality spouted by businesses both small and large, the incentives for a business to go it alone in terms of reducing its emissions are slim enough.
It would be preferable for all sorts of reasons for government to take responsibility, but the electoral hiding administered by voters to the Green Party last weekend makes it unlikely any incoming coalition will show the same enthusiasm for fighting climate change and putting pressure on business to cut emissions as the outgoing one did.
All the various political parties committed themselves during the election campaign to make substantial investments in infrastructure. When push comes to shove the two parties that will most likely make up the next government, Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael, have shown a willingness to long finger strategic infrastructural investments in areas such as transport and energy. One or the other of them has been in government for the three decades that the Dublin Metro project has been knocking around. If they believed in it, they would have built it by now. Likewise the tottering electricity grid.
It makes the point that infrastructure is key to attracting foreign direct investment and is a one of several factors multinationals consider when making investment decisions. The council also argues that strong infrastructure facilitates international trade and allows firms operating in Ireland to access larger markets abroad. This brings opportunities to take advantage of economies of scale.