Community Matters 19nov2024

The Community Matters radio show is sponsored by Connemara Credit Union Ltd and focuses on the upcoming election in the Galway West constituency. The show features interviews with various candidates who discuss the main issues they are encountering on the campaign trail. Some common themes include housing, traffic, health, special needs, and planning issues. The candidates also discuss the potential impact of the departure of a long-standing TD on the election. Overall, the show aims to provide a platform for candidates to share their views and engage with the community. Community Matters is kindly sponsored by Connemara Credit Union Ltd, incorporating Clifton, Tully Cross and Carnda Branches. Connemara Credit Union is here to serve the people of the Connemara area. Main Office, Clifton and Tully Cross Branch, 195-211-01. Good evening and welcome to Community Matters on this evening, the 19th of November and a very chilly November evening it is, as I'm sure the various candidates who are joining us might attest to as they're out on the campaign trail at the moment. My name is Mary Ruddy, we'll be with you until 8 o'clock or maybe slightly after. We've been given a little bit of flexibility this evening because we're doing the special election programme here. So first of all, let me welcome into the studio Catherine Connolly, who's braved the elements and made it to the studio here in Letterfrack. And then joining us via Zoom, we have Mairéad Farrell from Sinn Féin, Sean Cain, Féin Geal, Pauline O'Reilly, the Green Party, Mike Cobbert, Independent, Noel Thomas, Independent Ireland, Pádraig Léonhain, Éan Tu, John Connolly, Fianna Fáil and Doran MacMahon, the Irish Freedom Party. Now, as we all know, the election is underway, the campaign is more or less halfway through. As I said, voting is on Friday week and we are, of course, in the Galway West constituency, which is a large, at least it's a large, geographically speaking, from Galway City all the way to ourselves here and out to Inishcotham and it's a very large constituency with the city of Galway and then the whole rural hinterland of Connemara, but we're going to be concentrating, I suppose, on the issues arising particularly in Connemara. There are, it's a five-seater and four of the sitting TDs are going forward again, that's Mairéad Farrell, Noel Greedish, Hildegard Nocton and Catherine Connolly. The big change, I suppose, in Galway West is Éamon O'Keefe's departure after 32 years, he's not standing and what is going to happen to his vote, he had a very, he topped the poll last time round, so the question is really, I suppose, where is Éamon O'Keefe's vote going to go to? People might expect it'll go to the two Fianna Fáil candidates and I'm sure a lot of it will, but will it all go there? It remains to be seen. It certainly makes it for an interesting 2024 election. Very briefly, because I'm afraid it's nine candidates here and all to get equal time, we won't have a lot of time, but I am going to go to some of the candidates, I'll go to all of the candidates, just to speak very briefly and just to list the two or three issues that you're encountering on the doorsteps now at this point in the campaign. So if we could go to you first of all, Mairéad Farrell. Thank you so much, Mairéad. Thank you so much for having us on. I suppose in the last four and a half years, I've had the honour of representing the Goy West area and in that time, I have held monthly clinics in Clifton, in the Station House Hotel and the big issues that have always come up in my clinics is, number one, is housing without question and the big issue, of course, in Connemara is that it's impossible to buy, build or rent, so that is a big, big focus for myself and has been for the last four and a half years and will continue to be. The other big issue is traffic and I think we can all attest to the fact that traffic is a huge issue, so once people hit, I suppose, once they get into their cars, the one big thing that we need is to have reliable public transport, which is absolutely crucial and I would also be in favour of the ring road. Then thirdly, the big issue would be health and we've obviously seen huge concern in relation to Clifton Hospital, but across the board, there is issues in terms of health. Just in September alone, we saw 1,000 people on trolleys in Goy University Hospital, 1,000 people just in September alone and we need to make sure that we're ensuring that there is access to care. Everybody knows that once you get into the system, it's a fantastic system, but it's the issue of access to health. OK, thanks, thanks Marie. We'll take those three. Sean Cain, Senator, Fine Gael Senator, what are you hearing on the doorsteps, Sean? Good evening, Mary, and good evening to your listeners. Firstly, could I pay tribute to Deputy Eamon O'Keefe on his retirement and thank him for his service to Connemara and Galway West and indeed the country over the last 32 years and indeed before that also. Similarly to Marie, the issues that are coming up on the doors, obviously depends on where you're canvassing at that particular day, but housing will be number one. I think traffic will be the second one, particularly in and around Galway City and west of the city where I'm canvassing. And the third one, I think, that comes up quite often is special needs and resources for those children with special needs and parents fighting for them. I think there are three main issues that come up on doors and I've always advocated for projects like the Galway City Ring Road and we see the myConn and Bypass, which was opened last December, has been a huge benefit, in particular in the evening times, to people travelling home to myConn and Roscahill up to Arden and further on to Connemara. And I hope to continue to fight for those issues. Thank you, Sean. If I can come to you in the studio here, Catherine Connelly, housing, traffic, health, special needs, are you encountering anything different? Hello, Marian. It's lovely to be here in the studio with you. I've been here for every election and thank you for all your work. What's coming up on the doors, certainly housing, but actually what surprised me, and in one sense it didn't, was disability and the complete absence of services for people with disability, particularly respite, and parents and grandparents at the end of their tether, without it out. Housing, major housing crisis in the city and then in the county, difficulties in country and planning. We're still waiting on the regulations from the government, that's years we're waiting on them. And of course, born in Athusha, the decimation of rural areas. In addition, I think people, when I go to the door, recognise me for what I stand for and that's particularly relevant in relation to what's happening in Palestine. And people are outraged that we have allowed that slaughter to develop and go on in our names. Health, without a doubt. The HEQA report lately in relation to the hospital showed that there was an absence of staff. The nurses protest last week, they told us that there were 303 vacancies alone with nurses and midwives. And I suppose all of these issues are intertwined really, if we're going to talk climate change. And we need transformative action on all of these issues, so that we can comply with our obligations under the climate legislation. Finally, in relation to the Outer Bypass, this has continued for 24 years. It really has repeatedly ended up in the Kuldesai, it's currently for Bor Planola. My difficulty is, in those 24 years, very few initiatives have been taken to alleviate the traffic, lift it off the road, park and ride, light rail, increase buses, increase the rail service from Ornmore and Apton Ryde. Very practical suggestions that would help alleviate. Thank you. I think anything that we could do to alleviate the traffic in Galway would be a help, it really is. Good luck, Philly. Noel Thomas, in your campaign, what are you encountering? Good evening, good evening to all our listeners. It's similar enough, I think, everywhere across the board. But one thing that's really standing out to me most is probably planning issues. And, John, I mean, there's lots of people who are having great difficulties with secure planning. These are people who have brought stuff and reared it in their own local communities, and then fail in secure planning. Like, it's a serious problem in Connemara. But it was the environmental restrictions that are involved in Connemara that makes it more difficult for people to get the plan. So that's one of the big issues. The other thing I would add to that would be cost of living. And it's what seems to be getting people most is the fact that, you know, there's a lot of hard-working people out there in Connemara and in Galway in general. And they're, you know, they're just about threatened by mortgages, they're sending their kids to college or school or whatever. But there's no support there for them. You know, if they're earning 20 euro more than the limit that they're allowed, and they don't qualify for SUSE or other supports, things like that. And that's really, really angered a lot of people out there at the moment. And another big one that came on the floor was the support for disability services for carers as well, in particular. You know, and carers, you know, having to fight to try and secure carers allowance. I mean, I think that's absolutely ridiculous. I think people should be recognised for the good work they're doing, and recognised for what they're saving the state in the job they're doing as well. It's absolute madness to think that we're treating people like this. And lastly, a big one that gets everyone is the actual re-roads in Galway City, and of course the infamous R336 as well. Both of those roads are not fit for purpose at the moment to carry the traffic that's going in and out of them every day. And I know the bypass in my column that Sean spoke about there is of benefit on the way home from Galway City, but I mean, it's a one-way bypass at the moment without the re-road in Galway. And you can see it already very clearly in rush hour in the morning in my column village, the traffic is backed up now, I'm saying my column village, it's backed up all the way back to the end of the bypass. So this is something that has to happen, it has to happen. Okay Noel, thank you. And Doran McMahan from the Irish Freedom Party, what's your experience on the doorsteps? Pretty much the same now as everybody else is getting there, healthcare, housing, accommodation for workers. The big one is the healthcare. I'm actually calling for a nationwide care or burnout assessment in relation to healthcare in Ireland. There's major issues in the healthcare sector and the only way to actually identify the extent of the issue is to carry a care or burnout assessment on an annual basis to basically inform government policy. This is essential to be able to find all the missing cogs and identify the extent of the issue. Without identifying the extent of the issue, we'll never actually be able to fix the issue. I have a kid with a disability in his health and the services just aren't there. And I will actually ask all the other candidates on here that whichever five of us that actually get a seat, to please call for a nationwide care or burnout assessment on an annual basis to inform government policy. Any established country would carry out a care or burnout assessment. The main thing I'm getting at the doors is healthcare, housing and once again the link road. Out West I was back in Clifton this evening and the main thing was housing, healthcare and the road. I would also advocate for the road, the local campaign and it has to be built. It's been promised for 40 years. We're one of the only cities in Europe that doesn't have a link road. The congestion of traffic in and around Galway City is appalling. I think we can take it that that's something that all of the candidates are agreed about. Can I go to you Pauline O'Reilly from the Green Party? I know you weren't in government but you are a senator. So in a sense involved in government in the past four years. These issues are still occurring. Are those the same as you're getting at the doorstep as well? Yeah I suppose it depends on who you are when you go to a door as well. For me climate change does come up very strongly and public transport in particular, the bus services, education, getting access to schools and disability comes up very strongly. So I think in particular the bus services we've seen a tenfold increase in people using the rural buses across just County Galway alone since we came into government. And what people are saying is they want more. So liking the services but wanting more of them I think comes up really strongly. And when it comes to climate change I mean we probably anticipated when we went into government as the Green Party, the smallest party in a coalition government, that people say well you get kicked when you go back to the electorate. It certainly doesn't feel like that. There will always be people who will vote for where they're going to vote but I'm certainly not detecting an overall feeling of things shifting away. And so that's been really positive. And I think that what people want is not just talk but they want people to take action. And to step up and go into government when you can and take the action that you can, work with others, collaborate and be practical. And really that's what people expect. And I think when it comes to disability services there is a shocking lack of action and I think we can all agree on that. John, if I can go maybe, we will be coming back to you Pauline and I think we're getting a lot of the same issues. John Connolly from Fianna Fáil. Is this what you're also encountering John? Yeah, very much so I suppose Mary. Thank you for the opportunity to participate in the show. I had hoped to be in the studio but the party asked me to participate in a debate tonight at TG Carhartt as well so unfortunately I can't be there and I do apologise. I had hoped to be. And just I suppose to say that yes, Eamonn has been a great representative of our party, a great representative across the constituency and it would be my desire hopefully to succeed Eamonn in Dáil Éireann at the coming election. But you're right I suppose. I am coming across many of the similar issues, housing being one in particular. A number of facets for that I suppose. Difficulty and the long waiting list in accessing social housing. A lack of affordable housing in the private market. Maybe a lack of affordable housing schemes as well and how slow these schemes are to come to fruition. Also I suppose in terms of transport and obviously the transport issue has a knock on effect throughout the constituency. I hear a lot of sentiment when I'm conversing in the west of the constituency about concerns people have about access to that part of the constituency and access for industry as well as for residential development. And again I would be a supporter and a promoter of the need for a ring road but I also would be a public transport user and I would hear a lot of people tell me that they are troubled by how long it takes to develop public transport facilities and public transport services. And that is a source of deep frustration to me as well. The cost of living is certainly an issue. People are still bringing to our attention the challenge it is in making ends meet on a weekly or fortnightly basis within the household. And of course I would concur that our health services are also a prominent feature of the doors. Okay. And finally Mike Hubbard, Independent. Thanks for having us on this evening. Similar to my colleagues I suppose housing is the main issue and people I suppose are really starting to lose hope that they will ever have their own home or access to affordable housing in particular. And there is no affordable housing schemes whatsoever coming down the line which is quite frustrating. Traffic as my colleagues have mentioned as well is a big issue on the west of the city, access in the Clermare region. And again the bypass as we know, the ring road as it is now known is obviously on Bourne Fornola. But I suppose people have a frustration that there has been little to nothing done other than that in terms of public transport, I suppose access to say park and rides for the west of the city. I was sat on the council with some of the guests here as well today and we spoke about park and rides for many, many years and nothing has progressed. There seems to be a lack of interest or effort in putting something in place for the west of the country in my view. Something slightly different that has come up with me is around mental health as well. So a lot of families are having difficulty accessing supports for mental health among young teens. But then also families are having difficulty accessing assessments for children with autism and ADHD and stuff like that. So there is a real concern on the ground around community sports in that area as well and that is something I am finding. And the last thing is, as some colleagues have mentioned too, around the health service. I mean having 989 people treated on a trolley or a chair in the university hospital in Galway in the month of October is shocking stats in the year 2024. So I think obviously there is a huge, you are all really getting a lot of the same with some candidates because of their position getting, for example, Catherine Connolly, the Minister of Gaza with Pauline O'Reilly, the climate change seems to probably feature higher than it might with other candidates. Can I go back to housing because it is such a huge area. Excuse me Mary Porrick. I am sorry Porrick. I was feeling a bit left out. Yes, I am so sorry Porrick. It is Porrick Linehan from ANTU. I won't derail, I won't keep things, I won't repeat a lot of traffic and housing. Again, same issues and disability, I will come to that. Traffic, what do we do until the bypass is built? Buses, more of them. The bus service is getting better. We need more buses, more shelters. It rains in Galway from time to time. We need dedicated buses from suburbs to city centre schools. And that is in the medium term. The long term, perhaps, would be an answer. On housing, I don't have any magic bullet as regards to many micro steps. There are lots of good ideas being canvassed, more apprenticeships, quicker turnover by local authorities. On the supply side, very few people are looking at the demand side. The max, I am told by people I know, houses we can produce is 36, mid-30s per year at the moment. Population, inward population migration is running at double that for the past couple of years. No matter what we do, we can talk about, we can pluck figures out of the sky, but if we don't have, and if the government hasn't got a grip on that, and it's something I'm not entirely comfortable talking about, but we have encouraged, the two don't add up, that's all I'd say. And finally, carers. I was at a hostings on Monday in Menlo Park, and I thought I'm used to this game, and I was very moved by the stories, the need for respite care, the desperate need for carers to get that, and the worries that older carers have as they approach, as they get older, and they're minding adult disabled people, and they're worried about what will happen after they're dead, and that has stayed with me as well, and it's something that I was captured by. That's really it. Thank you Mr Parikh, and apologies again there Parikh. No bother at all, I was too quiet. Just to go back to housing, and as well Parikh has just brought it up also, there's been quite a bit of talk about derelict houses, and houses that have been lying vacant for long periods, and there seems to be a reluctance on the part of the government to introduce any kind of substantial tax on those that would actually be a disincentive to leaving a property unoccupied and falling into dereliction. Sean, if I can go to you first, as Fine Gael have been in power for 13 years at this point, is there a reluctance to tax houses that are left unoccupied and going into dereliction? Well, I think first of all the government has put in place grants in relation to vacant and derelict homes, and that has brought new life back to many properties around Connemara, and I'm hopeful that over the years to come there will be more and more of these houses brought back, because it is a shame to see houses left idle, left vacant, left going derelict. In some cases there are issues with panning, in some cases there are issues with title, and maybe family own those properties abroad. In relation to, I suppose, derelict properties where nothing is happening, I suppose we've introduced the incentive in terms of the grants, and if there are properties in years to come that could be renovated and unfortunately there may be issues in getting them back into place, then I think the states have powers and they've used it in other places. But I think first of all we've been proactive in relation to incentivising those owners to bring those properties back to life, to use, to get them out, in terms of private residences or for rental or for social housing, and I think that's the right approach. I know the council have in the last number of weeks looked at certain properties and are threatening to use their powers of CPOs, and I think certainly the owners of those properties have to be given opportunities to respond and to justify, and I'm sure in some cases there is justification why those properties are being left as they are. But we need to see these houses brought back into use. John Connolly, if I could go to you as a member of Fianna Fáil who have also been in government, do you think that the carrot is enough, or should there be some punitive element to leaving houses going to dereliction given the crisis we have in housing? Well, there is a dereliction tax, Mary. I think, best of my knowledge, I think it's 3% of the value of the site per year, but of course the site must be included in the direct site register, and people can bring that to the attention of the local authority if they wish. It may not be sufficient, and again the local authorities possibly could be more vigilant and more, I suppose, proactive in getting those sites onto the direct tax register. But I think there has been some success, as Sean said there, with the vacancy refurbishment grants, and they have been increased over the lifetime of the government. Other schemes such as Cree Conagh have also helped to try and invigorate and get some incentive to do up vacant property and property that has become derelict. But I think, you know, there can be more done, and I know in our own manifesto we're hoping to increase the refurbishment grants, I think by €10,000 over the lifetime of the government. And look, I would have a preference, strongly I have to say, for using the carrot approach rather than the stick, but we do have a derelict tax and tax can be placed on sites that are left derelict if they are included in the derelict site register. I'll go to Mairead Farrell next because Sinn Féin have really made a point of highlighting housing as probably their number one issue. Is there anything novel, on the dereliction question first, Mairead, but maybe more generally as well on housing, what's going to be the approach of Sinn Féin, should they be in government? Look, to be honest, we're in the middle of a housing crisis and, you know, there has to be an element of use it or lose it when it comes to derelict sites and vacant properties because, you know, there's seriously people struggling. In the county and in the city, at the moment, it is impossible to get emergency accommodation because it's full, so you end up being on a waiting list. So what we're saying very clearly is that we would bring in a totally new derelict site tax and that it could hit as high as 35% after five years. So basically what would happen is it would be increased, the derelict site tax would be increased by 50% every single year. So we would start off with a 10.5%, then it would increase to 15.75% after two years. So there would very much be like, you either use it or you lose it. And see across Galway City and Galway County, we see so many sites that are just kind of left there, left idle, and it's almost like a speculative fence waiting on it to make more money for whoever owns it. And that's just wrong in the middle of a housing crisis. And see in my Clifton Clinic, all the time people are coming in to me and they're saying that they have a notice to quit and they have to move out of the home, and the closest thing that they might get is maybe the likes of my Colin or that, and the kids are in school in Clifton and they're going to have to move school and that kind of thing. Like, that's shocking. And even just this week what we had was from Galway County Council that they announced that they're going to be taking action on 40 of the 817 properties that are vacant or derelict in the county. And look, it's not fault of Galway County Council, they've been underfunded. We all know that, we've all worked together in relation to Galway County Council underfunding. But that's less than 5% of the properties that have been identified. And we do have a serious homelessness crisis that we need to tackle. And that's in every part, you know, it's there in every neighbourhood of this county. And just to go to Noel Thomas, Independent Ireland. Noel, on the question of, would you be in favour of applying a tax to derelict homes? And to broaden it a little bit, which is an issue in the Connemara area in particular, there was a survey completed earlier this year where in the Ballyconeilly area alone for the first time the number of holiday homes exceeded the number of full-time residents I think by almost 60%, which is quite an amazing figure if you think of all of the houses. Look first at the question of derelict houses, but would you also consider taxes on second properties? Yeah, and look, the derelict houses, and just to say first that the grants that came in, they were great, and they work well for people who own these derelict properties themselves. But the only flaw to that system is where somebody then wants to buy one of those properties off somebody else. And then straight away the cost of the grants you're getting have been added to those buildings. So there isn't really any gain for somebody buying one of those properties. That's the only flaw that I can see in that. But the, first of all, it's hard for CTOs, and still taking possession of somebody's property, if they're not willing to use it or lose it if somebody says they're illegal. That's something that I think we need to be very careful about. Because there are plenty of situations out there where somebody may inherit a building like that from one of their family members, and they may not be in a position to have the funding to be able to redo that home or whatever at this particular time. But maybe the case would be that in 10 years' time, maybe if they're finished graving their family or whatever, that they may be in a position then to actually go and spend some money on that property and do it up. So I'd be very wary about this use-it-or-lose-it strategy that's being talked about here. Because at the end of the day, that's somebody's property. And as I said to you, if they're not in a position to do something right now, but would be in the future again, then who the hell are we to actually come in and seek out that property? And what about second-home properties? Second-home properties is a different story. It's not something that I've had a lot of discussions about with anybody. But again, I mean, I see it all the time. I've canvassed Connemara for years, and there are certain areas in Connemara that have... they're actually sort of deprived communities to a certain degree with the amount of vacant properties that are there. And so when you go around canvassing tech, it's interesting, because if you can get somebody local with you, and they're driving you around, and they say, don't go to this house, don't go to this one, because they're all rental properties, and it's just amazing how many homes you're actually skipping. So in a case like that, maybe that is something that should be done, and the tax put on them, I don't know, but that's, I suppose, going to be a discussion for probably the next government that comes into power. But it could be an idea. Because I suppose if somebody has a second home like that, in a lot of cases they probably wouldn't be able to afford to pay a bit of money on it. So, as I said, I'd be very worried about trying to penalise somebody that has a derelict property, and there may be a lot of reasons why it's less derelict. If I can go to you, Doran McNaghan, the Irish Freedom Party. Do you have a position on taxes, either for derelict homes, or on second holiday homes? Well, for instance, with derelict homes, speaking from 25 years' experience in the sector in construction, a lot of these derelict homes, you'd be as well bulldozed and flattered to start again. The amount of work that goes into redoing a derelict home can be more costly, and when you're dealing in Connemara here, there's also radar barriers to deal with. How do you put a radar barrier under a house that already does? You're technically dealing with four walls that are going to be badly insulated, and so on. The company I work for, we do everything from new builds to renovations, and I have to say, a lot more work goes into doing up a derelict building to bring it up to standard, and there's a lot more manpower and labouring hours go into it than doing a new house. It can be way easier and simpler to build a new house and build it up to standard, especially with the radar barrier. So do I think that you wouldn't be in favour of the taxation? I wouldn't be in favour of taxing someone that owns a derelict building, as Noel Thomas was saying there, that someone might inherit the house, they might be in a position to do it, and in five years' time down the road they might be able to. These grants are great, but unfortunately you have to come up with the money yourself first. A lot of people are not in that position to be able to afford it. So maybe if the grant money was given up front, people would be able to actually do up the properties, which would be much more appropriate for a lot of people. Now when it comes to second and third houses, I do believe, once again, as Noel Thomas said, this should be looked at by the next Government, and there should be a tax brought in there, I would believe. But on derelict homes, especially if you're after inheriting them and stuff like that, I think it's a little bit unfair to be taxed highly on it. That would be my position on that. It just needs to be dissented, because a lot of them are beyond repair. We got that. If I can go to Catherine Connolly in the studio here. Catherine, on taxing private property, do you have any issue with that? I certainly have views, but if we could just go back to how this housing crisis happened in the first place, because we have a myriad of schemes without looking at how did this crisis happen. And it didn't happen accidentally. It happened directly consequent on Government policies. I spent 17 years at local level, and from 2009, the City Council and the County Council didn't build a single house. I'm very familiar with the city. The housing crisis was created. We relied on the market. We brought in scheme after scheme to make sure that the artificial high prices were kept high, whether that's for the purchase of a house or for rent. We have 15,000 homeless that we know about. It's an obscenity. So we have Government representatives here without saying, what is the Minister for Housing doing? Continuing with the same policy every single year, failing to reach targets, and then having a jigsaw of schemes without an overall picture. So what am I saying? The arrogance of any local authority that would talk about a CPO when they have houses themselves lying vacant. In my own area in the Claddagh, I can think of two straight off. I can look down at the museum and look at a whole line of houses owned by the City Council, empty for years, without the slightest bit of shame or embarrassment. So let's look at that first. And then let's look at how the local authorities were deprived of funding and power to build houses. They are part of the problem. So when we look at different schemes and would we tax second houses? Certainly second houses should be in that. Their elect houses are completely different, as has been said. And there are a huge amount of factors as to why a house would be derelict. But let's look at what caused the crisis and how do we get out of that crisis. We do that partly by setting up building public houses on public land. It's a farce to be talking about affordable housing. There is no affordable housing. And then within the Gaeltacht and the Connemarae area, they failed to publish the planning regulations that they said needed to be published before they could talk to us about building housing and so on. I'm not sure what my time is. In terms of talking about the councils, are you saying it should go back to the local authorities providing housing directly? Absolutely. First of all, I think they should look in Galway at any given time. We have 100 empty properties and more. Years empty. And no shame by a local authority. No meeting with a minister saying, we have no funding to this or we have, but these are the obstacles. Yes, they were the ones that had the expertise until it was taken from them. And when we go back to the planning that somebody mentioned, when we were discussing the Planning Act in Dublin, it came up that there were approximately 500 vacancies in the planning system throughout the country. How can you have an effective planning system if there are 500 vacancies? It's not possible. I'm not talking about symptoms as opposed to an analysis of the problem and a change, a complete change, where a home is an absolute human right. Without security of tenure, whether you buy it or rent it, without security of tenure, you cannot participate in a democracy. You're concerned about surviving from day to day. Paddy Linehan, can we go to you? I know you made a point earlier about the demand as well as supply. The supply thing, Mary, sorry I cut across you there. No, no, go on. I find a certain agreement with Catherine Connolly, I mean the indignation of it. The council is too slow in turning, I know this for the city council, I can't speak for the county council, in turning over vacant properties. And I've noticed that. I'm dealing with a friend of mine who's paying 100 a week and with four other guys in the house and he's facing an increase in rent and the implicit threat that he'd be evicted and that the house will be sold. So there is abuse going on. But on the question of the probate, and the question of vacant houses in the countryside, it's a tough one because I know from personal experience from a farming background, the house took a long time between probate and between different siblings having different ideas what should happen and this thing can drag on and the house gets more run down and it's a very, very fraught situation. But there must be a way of guillotining that process and speeding up the process of probate for a start. And I think that would help. Can I go to you Pauline O'Reilly from the Green Party? What's your position on taxation on properties? First of all, I think there's a reality here and that is that everybody knows that we're in the middle of a housing crisis and I think a lot of people on the doors are faced with manifestos across the board from everybody saying that they're going to stop the housing crisis. And I think for the most part people feel that they have been promised things for a long time and how can they believe what anybody says, opposition included, because people do have to step up to make the changes as well and attempt to go into government if they can. That's my fundamental view. When it comes to the grants for vacancy and dereliction, people are really signing up to those. There's grants of up to £70,000 there now and it has changed in that people were having to apply for a mortgage for the entire amount and they couldn't subtract that £70,000 and then it was becoming difficult to get a mortgage and that's changed as well. So I think that's really positive. But I certainly know from my time as a city councillor, albeit a short time, I did do quite a lot of work on vacancy on Airbnb, which is a real issue, whether you're in Cullinan or whether you're in the city. And we have an issue with people not declaring and going on to the register in the first place. So the small amount of tax that is there is not being collected in those cases. I do think that there should be an increase in the tax because it doesn't force you to sell the property, but it does disincentivise you from holding on to it. Whatever we may say about that's somebody's house, I mean, how long is it reasonable to have empty properties in the middle of a housing crisis? I think there's general agreement on leaving vacant, especially when this is happening, although it continues to happen. Can I just make one point here? It's probably slightly different to some of the others and we do have a meanwhile use policy, which is if something is lying idle, that it be used for something else for the community in the meantime. So, for instance, a community garden or a community space, that happens on a kind of an ad hoc basis. And we'd like to see, because that's a really short term thing, where something is not an eyesore in the middle of the town. And that's really what we need to avoid, is that you have places that are perfectly serviceable, they're in the middle of a community, lying idle for a really long time. Let's ensure that they're used. And the hope would be, the number one should be, that it's used as a home. But in the meantime, at least use it for something and don't just leave it sitting there. Okay. Mike, if I can go to you on this. And then also briefly, I just want to introduce another topic, which is of a lot of interest. And it's around the support to the retail sector. The government decided not to decrease the VAT from 13%, as was requested. Although I gather some of the government parties are now looking at that again and saying that they would bring down the VAT. But there are other challenges for the retail sector, such as finding accommodation, back to housing again, for their staff members, retaining staff. And I suppose the increases in minimum wage and then coming up is the requirement to set up pensions. Is this something that you're addressing, Mike, in your own campaign? Yeah, can I just touch on the first issue briefly and then I'll move on to that? Sure. So just on the first one, one point on the council properties. And I suppose I'd have to figure it out for the city council. And I'm sure the county council, which would include Claremore, would be the same. So the city council gave us a report last month that they're empty properties. And how many they've been working on at the moment and how many they're not. And beside the line that said 54 properties were not being worked on, the reason given was no funding made available. So again, that goes back to what the minister is saying and what they're doing. So we can't be talking on one hand in a government saying that we're doing everything we can to bring houses back on stream. And on the other hand, the local authority aren't being financed properly to bring back the Derlick properties that they have in their own stock. So that's just a point on that. The second thing, on Derlick houses themselves, the properties themselves, and to the point that Noel and Dora mentioned, I think people need to look at it with a bit of a common sense approach. And I take myself for example. If I was to inherit a property tomorrow morning, I wouldn't have the means to bring it back into use immediately. So if somebody is in that situation, obviously with a bit of common sense, you cannot go taxing that property. And you look at that person on a one-to-one basis. If somebody then is speculating on the markets, of course you tax that person. If they're sitting there and leaving a Derlick property in the middle of a village or a town or a city, of course you tax them. And the final point on that, early this morning we had our first meeting of the project development SPC here in the city, which I chair. And the first point we've agreed on is to formulate some sort of policy around Derlick buildings. And again, we've also agreed to link in with the county council and see what we can do collaboratively to see how we can approach this and go across the board, city and county, to deal with the Derlick properties, both residential and commercial. Because it's become an eyesore in every village, every town across the region. And just on the last question then, I absolutely agree that the VAT rate should have been reduced to 9%. I think it's put many, many jobs in jeopardy. I speak to many people on a daily basis here in Galway who are struggling. The increase, of course, as you mentioned, in the minimum wage is a challenge to them as well. And I think it's disingenuous now for the government to come along after the budget and say, well now we will look at it again for you. When they could have easily done that only a number of weeks ago. If I can go back to Mairead Farrell, because I know, Mairead, you have to leave us in the next three or four minutes. Just on that about support to the retail sector, did you want to clarify a point about the taxation? Yeah, so I was talking about Derlick sites, not about Derlick houses before everybody. So there's vacant properties and there's Derlick sites. So, for example, if you drive into Galway City from Dublin and you're passing where I live in Murfew, you pass the site of the Carbrae Southern Hotel. That's a Derlick site. Vacant property is a totally different thing. So we're not saying that we would tax vacant properties to that extent, because as everybody else after me has pointed out, that just wouldn't be practical. But I didn't want to butt in when I heard that it was a misunderstanding. So I'm talking about Derlick sites, it's a different thing. In relation to the local businesses and that, local businesses have been struggling for a long time and especially since COVID. And one of the things that a lot of the smaller businesses have always said to me is that the big issue that they have found is that with any of the government support schemes that really you nearly needed a full-time admin person. For those smaller businesses, it was really, really difficult to get access to them and that was felt across the board in those kind of smaller businesses. We've been clear in relation to 9% VAT rate for the hospitality sector and the need for it. Look, we're going to hear a huge amount of things that government parties promise to do, but obviously we know what has happened over the last number of years. Now, we need to be also very clear here. There has been hotels in Dublin that have done price gouging and as a result of that, I feel government moved on that. I think that's why it was and then they didn't think about the impact that that would have on all the smaller businesses. There were certain hotels, Taylor Swift was coming into town, and as a Swifty myself, Mary, they jack up the prices hugely, but the reality is that for very small businesses who are the lifeblood of our local areas in the sense that they can be the community hub in a lot of senses, they're the local employer and they're the place that tourists go to as well, they're really important that we give them as much support as possible to maintain. I am sorry, Mary, that I will have to leave early. Thank you very much for joining us this evening. I'm not going to go through everybody again because we could spend a lot of time on that because the other big issue that was coming up was particularly about carers and access to service for people with disabilities and respite care. Now, last time around in 2020, the council elections, the whole Clifton Hospital was a major issue locally. Now, to some extent, it's been resolved insofar as the hospital is currently open and there are some beds there, but it's pretty minimal and the planning process, I gather, is underway for the new 40-bed facility, which is a decrease on what was initially planned, 50 beds. Do you think, Sean Cain, that a 40-bed facility in Clifton is adequate? Given it covered a huge catchment area with an elderly population, a lot of needs in terms of special services, to build at this point and only in probably a few short years to realise this actually isn't meeting needs, doesn't seem like very good planning. Well, I believe the HSE have done their analysis and they've concluded that a 40-bed facility is adequate. I think it's important, first of all, that this is a public facility, so the state is investing in Clifton and North Connemara in providing a replacement for St Anne's and I certainly welcome that and I acknowledge the work that all politicians have put into that, in particular my colleague, Councillor Eileen Mannion in Clifton, who has done Trojan work in trying to secure this facility and this replacement facility and also, I have to say, the hospital is open, is being staffed and is being used. I'd like to acknowledge again the support of the colleagues there. Myself and Eileen Mannion organised two public meetings over the course of the last number of years to show to the HSE that there is a demand and that there is a need for this facility and thankfully that has reopened, is staffed and beds are being utilised there. I think, as I said, the facility that is planned for St Anne's, there will be 40 beds. I think that planning permission has been granted and we'll see that progress and that is certainly very, very welcome and we need to look continuously at other forms of accommodation, which is keeping people in their homes longer, which is what most people would like to be able to stay in their homes longer and continue to provide supports and we know there's a shortage of staff and home health. For a while there, it was a difficulty in getting sufficient hours. Thankfully that has improved now and funding is available but there are difficulties in getting staff and retaining staff in terms of care. I know Conamara Care and other groups do Trojan work trying to ensure that residents across the communities get the home health, get the care that they need. I certainly know Sine Gael and the other parties as well are looking at the means test for care, which is something that comes up at doors that people feel that, and rightly so, that they've given their life in terms of caring and they've saved the state and they are penalised because they may have a high income. So I think it's the right thing to look at that. But I think trying to keep people at home as long as possible, keep them in good health and then provide care for them where necessary in places like St Anne's is absolutely vital. And you think that's adequate? Well, again, the HSE have done their analysis. Whether it should be 45 or 50, they've settled on 40 and that's what they've got planning permission for and that's what they're building now. The most important thing is that there is money available and sanctioned by this Government to progress the planning and to progress the construction and we'll have a wonderful new facility there for the people of Clifden and North Conamara. By whom? They said planning has been granted and so that will progress, I'm sure over the coming year that will progress towards delivery and that's very, very welcome. I have to go to TG Cavanagh. Okay, well thank you very much for joining us, Sean. Thank you very much. Mary, I must leave also, but I might just merge two answers into two questions. I suppose just on the issue of retail space and the desire to see greater retail activity in our urban centres, it is important to note that both Galway City and County Council at the moment are developing a joint retail strategy and I would hope that within that there would be some strategies developed which would promote, I suppose, shopping within our urban centres and encourage people to attend our towns and villages to do their shopping. I suppose one of the great challenges is the availability of shopping online and we must develop a strategy that challenges that. And just on the healthcare, and I suppose Sean mentioned it there as well, our party have committed to abolishing the means test for carers allowance by 2028 in line with the report that was done by the Joint Office Committee on Social Protection. Okay. Okay, Sean. Thank you very much for joining us. Thank you. Thank you. Padraig Glenahan, you mentioned, this is Padraig Glenahan from Ainslie, you mentioned also respite came up a lot on the doorsteps with yourself. What are you saying about providing the services and the respite care? Well, it came up not on the doorsteps only enough, you know these meetings by disability groups or by various interested parties, one in Chantilly and another one in Menlo Park and it's a good idea to listen. You'll find yourself listening and learning from that. But on the means test for carers, now I didn't catch what the last speaker was. But John Connolly from Fianna Fáil who said that by 2028. Basically, John's party and Sean Cain's party both voted against a motion and two motions ended up sponsored by AN2 and by the independent group looking for the abolition of the means test for carers. Now, I know I'm as great to change our position on that but that was the record. In general, I and my party don't have a problem with means testing as such. But in the case of carers allowance and children's allowance, there are special circumstances pertaining and for that reason, the carer may not be, is often a woman who is not able to earn otherwise and who may be, it puts her dependent on somebody else. There's a lot of reasons why the carers allowance, not means testing it is a very good idea and it's something I've become more convinced about. And in addition, from what I heard, the paperwork involved is quite daunting and it's not final. Even, it's annoying where somebody has, somebody who's caring for somebody with a chronic condition which doesn't improve, which doesn't change and they're asked every few years they have to go and get the medical reports and get all the paperwork together. So that's, I suppose, I'm bringing the granular experience to bear there and that's our party's position, Mary. Thank you. Catherine Connolly, you're not dashing off to TG Cather? No, I'm not tonight for some reason. But let me just answer a number of things in relation to that. There have been numerous emotions before the dawn and I've supported the reduction in that. We have this rhetoric, mountain to empty rhetoric, that small businesses are the backbone of the country. I fully agree with that. But the rhetoric has been made a reality. And then when we come to St Anne's, I was shocked that the number of beds had been reduced from 50 to 40 with absolutely no explanation. No report put before any of us, no explanation given. There was a time when nursing homes was 80-20, 80% public, 20% private. Because of government policy, seeing the fall of PDs at the time, and seeing the gales, it has been completely reversed. Less than 15% of our nursing homes are now public. So we're dependent on a profit-based system. So we come to St Anne's, wonderful that they're going to build 50 beds. Without explanation, it goes back to 40. Now, then we look at the district hospital and there's a conflation of two things. A district hospital with a nursing home. The district hospital has a completely different function. And it has been said repeatedly by Fianna Fáil and the parties that this hospital will close when St Anne's is up and running. I find that unacceptable. I will not accept that. And any change that has come to keep that hospital limping, on a limp basis, has been from the pressure from the community. I pay tribute to that. And we responded to that. I raised it in the Dáil. I attended the meetings. There is no doubt in my mind that the intention of the government is to close Clifton District Hospital as soon as St Anne's is up and running. And that's a conflation of two different things. Then we go back to the regional hospital in Galway. More than 30 patients are ready to be discharged. And they cannot go anywhere because there are no beds available. In Carrow, where there are empty beds for donkeys here, out in the Arn Islands, and down here in Clifton, where they can't go back to be minded in their own community. So I despair of this language as if they haven't been in power, and as if this just happens by accident. This is driven by policy. Doreen McMahon, have you been involved in this debate? I've been listening there now. I would be a strong advocate for scrapping the means testing immediately. Four years is too long to wait for carers to be means tested right now. As I said, the carer burnout assessment will help identify the extent of these issues and help the means testing. But as of now, we need to scrap the means test immediately for carers because the role carers play in our community is, you can't say, for the state to care for someone that costs nearly half a million a year, carers are basically doing the role there. I think we all kind of agree with that for sure. Noel Thomas, what's your position in relation to Clifton Hospital, whether the proposed 40-bed nursing unit is adequate? My stance on that, and Independent Ireland's stance on it as well, is that what we need to be doing is investing more into the likes of Clifton Hospital. Because what we should be doing is taking the pressure off the likes of the regional hospital in Galway. We see what's in there at the moment. The place is jammed. There's long, long waiting lists inside A&E all the time. Things have not really improved hugely in the last number of years inside that hospital. So if we're really to take a serious look at this, that's what we should be doing, is investing a lot more money into the likes of Clifton Hospital. So that all the people in Clifton can be, most of their issues can be dealt with in that hospital, taking the pressure off the other hospitals in Galway City. That's the way we should be looking at it. And unfortunately, there's no reason we don't seem to be doing that. But just picking back to the carers allowance too, I mean, I heard Scott or Connolly talk about it, their minister was saying that a lot of the ambition would be to remove the leave test for carers allowance by 2028. I honestly, it's something I just find disgusting to listen to. Because it's like, if we really and truly like, we seem to be on the right flows and we don't seem to be able to recognise the value of people who are caring for someone, their loved one at home on their own property. And if that's just the financial side of it, it's the actual, the human side of it as well. Because keeping someone you love close to you for as long as you possibly can, that's what you want to do. You don't want to be shifting them off into a state institute where you get a chance every now and then to come and visit them. I just don't understand it, why we're not supporting this sort of stuff, like 100%. I don't care if somebody was making £100,000 a year. Like, their partner should still qualify for a carers allowance without any means tested. It's an incredibly beneficial asset for the state. Pauline, Pauline O'Reilly from the Green Party. Hi, how are you doing? Yeah, so I suppose the first thing to say is in relation to the hospital, I think the good thing is when people stick together, when politicians stick together to try and achieve something for Connemara and for Clifton. And I've certainly been out to the meetings myself and again to thank Eileen Manion for the invitation to all of us, whether in government or in opposition, and I know Catherine spoke about bringing it up in the Dáil, Sean and I brought it up in the Sianad. And really, people just want to see progress. And, you know, I think what was happening was no explanation just in hospital closing due to not having staff and a moratorium there in relation to staff. So that was, I suppose, the critical issue to resolve. And I think that the more pressure that we can apply together in a positive force for the area, the better. In relation to carers, long before I was involved in politics, I was involved in setting up the stay-at-home parents association to push for more support for those who are caring, whether it's for children, for vulnerable adults, or indeed for older people. And I think Paula mentioned there a meeting, Paula and I went to the meeting actually in the Menlo Park Hotel, which was Family Carers Ireland. And what really stuck in my mind from that was an older woman who was caring for her husband with dementia for the last four years. And really, she was getting just sleeping for an hour at a time. And she's the only carer in the family for her husband. And she's entitled to 17 and a half hours. And she's only getting six hours home care. And that is just outrageous. And nobody, nobody can stand over that. Just on that, Pauline. It's a lack of people. A lack of carers. And the conditions for carers are such that they're leaving it. They're not going into caring. I believe in an IDA form of skills where we actually bring people into the area and pay them well to give good conditions. So much of it is private industry. And we can't rely on the kind of conditions that the staff, that the care staff are in at the moment. And it all needs to be addressed. Including, I would say, scrapping means testing. Pauline, I would have to stop you there actually. And just on that, you mentioned about dementia. There is a dementia pledge that candidates, you all have been asked to sign. Now I know it's been signed by Noel Thomas, Pauline Lenehan and Catherine Connolly. I don't know whether Mike Cobert or Doreen McMahon have signed it or Noel Thomas has. You can indicate if you had. But I imagine it's something I suppose an indication of solidarity. Now we're really coming to the end and there were questions from some listeners. One was that given the size of the Galway West constituency and how different it is, is there a case to be made for having three constituencies in Galway? East Galway City and Galway West? I'll just take a very quick overview. If I can go to you first, Noel Thomas. Is that something that could be considered or is the population big enough to have maybe a three-seater in Galway West which excludes Galway City? It's something we've talked about on many occasions in different organisations I've been involved with. I think in the last one, even on the STDC, I was chairman of the STDC going back for a couple of years there. Just very briefly if you would Noel. It is something that really should be considered because it's almost like three different completely. So socially even from a heritage perspective, from a language perspective, you've got a lot of different boundaries there. So you've got East Galway you know, more So you'd be willing to look at it anyway? It's something that should be probably looked at, yes, because they're very different districts. There's so many issues here and we're going to look at constituencies. You look at carers and all the promises that have been made. If the government were seriously interested, who would have abolished the means test? There is a Supreme Court case pending. A woman struggling 24 hours a day and she's been means tested and she can't get the carers allowance. And then we look at a disability payment. The promise to bring that hasn't been brought in. And the difficulty here is language means nothing. And so people out there think we're all the same and we give promises. I'm giving no promises. But what I will do is I will continue to work very hard for a different vision for this country. Provision of housing as a right. And then these are very practical things. Abolish the means test now. Absolutely now. And bring in a disability payment and so on. You're asking us to be short so I'll stop. Just to respect the questions that the listeners did send in. The other one is again, it's on a different topic, but one that I suppose a lot of people would feel very strongly about and particularly in a number of programmes in RTE exposing the treatment of animals in Ireland. And the question is, when are we going to see effective enforcement of existing animal welfare laws? And how come that there's a sizable amount of money given to both the greyhound and horse industries but there's very little to support all of the various charities who are running rescues for animals. So can I just go really very quickly to who Helen has called in. Can I go back to you on that really quickly? Look, the funding for those involved in animal welfare has doubled in the term of this Government but it is absolutely scratching the surface. The treatment of animals in this country is shocking. We can see it on primetime investigates programmes and really it was an uphill battle to even get that amount of funding when we were trying to negotiate with other parties who do not prioritise this. Okay, well let's go to the other parties then. But also, I'd just like to say, on greyhound funding, I don't believe that greyhound racing should be funded by the state. If they can wash their face so be it, but they won't be able to wash their face because it's a dying industry so we absolutely need to end that support. Okay, John Connolly, if I could go to you. If CNAFAL weren't supportive of greater funding for the charities involved in animal rescue. John Connolly's gone there. Oh he is, I'm sorry. Yes, he is indeed. Noel Thomas was a farmer. Can I just make a quick comment on that actually? Yes. I've got to say one thing. I do not believe at all that the animal welfare is the biggest issue in this country, as we're making out to be. It's horrible that there's tiny few people who actually get involved in this inhumane practice with animals. But it's not the majority. I can tell you one thing. The vast, vast majority of farmers in this country look after their livestock to the best of their ability, always and ever. Did you see any of the RT primetime programs? I saw every bit of every one of them, Mary. And were you not shocked by them? I was disgusted with them. But again, as I said to you, it is a very small minority of people that are doing this barbaric behaviour. But that doesn't, I suppose, detract from the fact that it is happening. Oh no, and as I said to you, it's barbaric behaviour and it takes the full force of the law to come down on those people. But do not come out and anyone should never come out in this country and say that the farmers or anyone else like that, or pet owners in this country are treating their animals inhumanely. Because the vast, vast majority of them look after them very, very well. The problem, Mary, if I can come in on that. The problem is, and I've seen it myself first hand, and Noel's probably right. It's not a massive issue, as in it's not happening in every street corner or every village or every farm. But I think the problem is, when it happens the sanctions are nowhere near strong enough. And I've seen people first hand punching horses in the face. I've seen people carry out disgusting acts in the city here. And they're widely publicised. And those people didn't as much as stand in a courtroom. The sanctions on those who are doing this need to be a lot stronger. And call them out for what they are. But Noel is right in the sense that it's not across the board. But when the minority do something let's hit them hard for it. Because again it's absolutely barbaric as it's been said. And we shouldn't stand for it. I'm afraid we really will have to leave it there. I know that there are much bigger issues and we we're not unaware that we haven't addressed the issues of climate change, what's happening in the world. You know Catherine mentioned earlier about Gaza. But we did say we would try and keep the issues to kind of the local issues because we do get an opportunity to hear some of the more national and indeed international issues which of course concern all of us. But I would like to thank all of the people who attended this evening. Who joined us on Zoom. Maread Farrell, Sean Kine, Pauline O'Reilly, Mike Cuppert, Noel Thomas, Paurick Linehan, John Connolly, Doran McMahon and a special word of thanks to Catherine Connolly who made it to the studio in Letters Act to join us. We will of course be speaking to hopefully at least five of you next month after we all cast our votes on the 29th of November. And I suppose the important thing is that we do cast our vote and we will be living I suppose with the consequences of that for at least, well, maybe not at least, but for four years or so afterwards. So may I just thank Brighid O'Malley for producing this evening's programme and for all of the work that she did do on that. Also to Gráinne O'Malley who was here on technician and managing between Zoom and studio. So from myself, Mary O'Reilly, have a very good evening and do stay tuned. We'll be going over to Cashel now for the Cashel News.