Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael are supporting The Green Party's "Dublin-centric" policies, according to the Independent TD.

The rise of the Farmers-Citizen Movement in the Netherlands has led to a series of discussions in Ireland about a potential Rural Party.

Speaking to Newstalk Breakfast, Deputy Michael Healy-Rae said the Government's policies have “absolutely” left rural areas feeling disconnected.

“Green Party's policies are disproportionately affecting people in comparison to what actual support they have,” he said.

“What has happened to the Green Party in Northern Ireland is they were completely decimated, and they were rejected.

“If there was an election tomorrow morning, and if we take the opinion polls … it will actually tell you that the Green Party would be decimated.”

Groupthink

Deputy Healy-Rae said, "At the same time Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael are bowing down to and implementing all of their policies.”

“People aren’t thinking these things through because if we cut back on all farmland what we will end up doing then is importing what we're actually exporting,” he said.

Former Transport Minister, journalist and author Shane Ross said Deputy Healy-Rae’s theory on the “urban-centric” Government is something he agrees with.

“An awful lot of Fine Gael rural voices have been silenced,” he said.

“The great offices of State, Taoiseach, Tánaiste, the Minister of Finance and the Minister for Public Expenditure are all from urban areas of Dublin or Cork.

“I think there's a bit of groupthink there.”

Anti-rural

Mr Ross rejected the suggestion that this translates into anti-rural Ireland policies.

“They've got extremely strong advocates like Michael himself, who was a member of the Rural Independence Group, which speaks very strongly and very well for rural Ireland,” he said.

“Now they've got the Regional Independence Group, which obviously has a huge influence on the Government because they hold the balance of power.

“I think they get a large number of concessions, but I do think there is a narrative there that ‘hey, you’re anti-rural,’ he said, “it’s a narrative which suits.”

“There are subsidies available for transport in rural Ireland, which are given fairly liberally.”

‘An even country’

Deputy Healy Rae said rural people are “perfectly entitled” to the subsidies that some claimed are “paid for by taxpayers in Dublin.”

“We're all taxpayers, it's supposed to be an even country and we are entitled to services, we're entitled to roads,” he said.

“If you look at what policy at the moment is dictating, it's against us all the time because of the simple fact they talk about public transport as if we had the Luas or we had buses outside our doors.”

Mr Ross said transports developments for rural Ireland including the airports in Shannon and Donegal required “very, very heavy, subsidies.”

“It's a very good narrative to scream about Dublin not giving them enough money,” he said.

“It gets them pretty successfully re-elected, but the figures don't actually back that up.”

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