As Fine Gael, Fianna Fáil and the Green Party publish their historic agreement on a programme for government, David Murphy takes a look at some of the key points in the five-year plan, finalised 128 days after Ireland's General Election.
Rotating Taoiseach
Micheál Martin will serve as Taoiseach until December 2022 and the role will then rotate to Leo Varadkar who will become Tánaiste and hold a ministerial role too. It will be the first such time a coalition will include a plan to share the role of Taoiseach.
There is no word yet on other ministers who technically will be appointed by Micheál Martin, but deciding who will be in Cabinet will be in consultation with Leo Varadkar and Eamon Ryan.
Direct Provision
The Direct Provision system for asylum seekers will be abolished. It will be replaced with a system which offers accommodation on a not-for-profit basis.
Draft legislation will be published by the end of the year explaining how the new system will work.
The plan is to avoid problems in communities where asylum seekers are housed. The document says it will develop "new models of community engagement to ensure that the establishment of new accommodation is done in an inclusive and welcoming fashion."
Public finances
A big issue is how the public finances will be fixed after Covid-19 put the economy into cold storage.
Ireland could run a massive deficit of €30bn this year. The markets may be looking for a commitment to ensure the country's borrowing does not become unsustainable.
Instead the programme for government makes a commitment to announce a plan in the Budget in October which is not quite the same thing. It says Budget 2021 will include a "roadmap" detailing how Ireland will reduce the deficit and return to a broadly balanced budget.
Green commitments
There is lots of greenery in the programme for government. One eye-catching commitment is the pledge to ban the sale of new and the importation of second-hand petrol and diesel cars from 2030.
Cycling infrastructure
There is a lot of good news for cyclists in the document if the proposals are implemented.
10% of the total transport capital budget will be used for cycling projects. A further 10% will be used for pedestrian infrastructure.
The document says it will widen the eligibility of the Bike to Work scheme for e-bikes and cargo bikes. Local authorities will be mandated to appoint a cycling officer to head improvements in cycling infrastructure.
Housing supply
On housing there is a commitment to ensure the supply of housing increases to 35,000 homes annually.
There is also a pledge to increase the stock of social homes by 50,000 over five years. The programme for government says there will be progress on a State-backed affordable home purchase scheme to promote ownership.
There is also a commitment to maintain the right of social housing tenants to purchase their own home. However, the tenants must be in situ for ten years, reduce the discount to the market value to a maximum of 25% and give local authorities the first call on purchase.
Insurance sector
There are also commitments to reform the insurance sector with the role of the Personal Injuries Assessment Board due to be enhanced and reformed. The new administration will expand the Garda National Economic Crime Bureau as part of the efforts to tackle insurance fraud.
Cyber security
The new government will take actions to protect Ireland against hacking, cyber crime, crypto-jacking, hacktivism, and cyber espionage. It will also build the capacity of the National Cyber Security Centre to protect the public and private sectors against cyber crime.
