Senator Dan Boyle has this morning warned his party was not to be taken for granted as "lobby fodder" in the wake of the Greens' abstention in a Seanad vote last night.
Mr Boyle and Deirdre de Burca last night voted against the Government for the first time since the administration was formed in 2007. Both senators rejected a guillotining of the final stage of the controversial Criminal Justice Amendment Bill.
Mr Boyle and Ms de Burca also abstained in the final vote when the Bill was passed by 35 votes to 7, with Fine Gael backing.
The Greens voted against the Government motion to take the report or final stage last night rather than allowing extra time today, but it was accepted by 24 to 20 votes.
Mr Boyle, the party chairman, said afterwards that the Greens were unhappy with assurances given by Minister for Justice Dermot Ahern about how the review of the legislation would be conducted in 12 months' time.
Speaking on Morning Irelandtoday, Mr Boyle said the Greens' action in the Seanad vote was a "clear signal" that the party was not satisfied with the way policy was being drawn up and the Greens' input into the process.
"It isn't so much about the legislation . . . it's how it comprises individual rights and how we review that on an ongoing basis. We wanted it to have a rigorous procedure, we wanted to have defined procedures, and the fact it was being left . . . made us unhappy," Mr Boyle said.
""We were looking for a particular response, and we did not get that response.
"A perception has developed that we [the Green Party] don't confront, that we are seen to acquiesce, and to take a public action is a very serious step for us."
Mr Boyle denied the move was intended to reassure party members ahead of a meeting this weekend.
"What it is about is that we have unhappiness in a particular policy area about a number of pieces of legislation introduced over several months of which the Criminal Justice Bill was a tipping point, and what were looking for is a different approach and a degree of respect that we felt wasn't given to us as a minority party."
"We're not going to be taken for granted, we're not going to be assumed to be lobby fodder, and our participation in Government is to be there as active participants to make the difficult decisions that have to be made."
Mr Boyle said was not seeking "heads to roll," but yesterday he acknowledged that the Greens had an “ongoing difficulty” with Mr Ahern and justice legislation.
He also denied the vote was anything to do with the party’s conference on Saturday to deal with their approach to the Lisbon Treaty referendum and a review of the programme for government.
However, he added: ""The serious situation that is coming up is the review of the programme for Government . . . and to presume the Greens are there to be taken for granted is not something that we want to allow as a public perception and not something that we want to be seen in terms of how our partners in Government deal with us."
