Green Party annual conference: The Green Party must win more seats and have a role in government following the next election if it is to achieve real change, leader Trevor Sargent told the party's annual conference in Cork.
Speaking at the start of the party's ardfheis, Mr Sargent also claimed his party would be "good for business" by introducing policies aimed at building a "clean-energy economy".
"The reality is that, if we are to achieve real change, then the time has come for Green politics to take a hold of the decision-making process.
"If we want to build a clean, green energy economy we need to start investing in completely different energy, transport, building and farming systems, and we need to do it now."
He said the Government seemed incapable of this.
"The Greens will also be good for business in any new government we form. Ireland will need every ounce of enterprise to meet the challenges this country is facing. Our economic future is tied up in this reality."
The experience in Europe had shown that Greens "can and do work well in government".
The theme of the conference is that the Greens "mean business", which is viewed as an attempt by the party to shed its image as being anti-business.
Mr Sargent said the party's track record was "one of helping business to face challenges, such as the rising cost of depleted oil".
He said: "The realities of climate change and the end of cheap oil mean the future of enterprise lies in this new world order. And in business, being ahead of the game always brings competitive advantage. There is nothing to be gained, economically or otherwise, from ignoring this reality. It is time for the Greens to set the new agenda."
He said the party's ardfheis was possibly the last before a general election."With that in mind, Greens also mean business in helping this country to improve quality of life. To do this we have to get key policies implemented.
"The best way to do this is to have a role in government. The best way to do this is to retain and further increase the number of TDs elected to the Dáil."
Mr Sargent also attacked the Government for "its litany of failures on infrastructural projects and its mismanagement of public expenditure".
"This coalition Government over the last eight years has mismanaged the profits from our boom by squandering billions of taxpayers' money.
"To take just one example, the National Roads Programme began with projections of €6 billion in 1999, and now, astonishingly, it is €20 billion and rising.
"The dysfunctional monopoly we have in electricity generation is costing everyone in this country dearly and is hindering the development of a renewable energy sector thanks to this Government."