(1.) Irish religious orders owe €1.5 billion in compensation to the survivors of clerical abuse. What action would you take to ensure – without fail – that they finally, universally, have to pay up?

The sexual abuse of children by members of religious orders, or at religious run schools, is a scandal of unprecedented and unparalleled proportions. €1.5 billion barely scrapes the bottom of what these orders should be paying. It is unbelievable that the approach of successive governments to these orders – which operated as de facto criminal networks – is to roll over. In government, the Social Democrats would pursue them in a number of different ways.

For a start, we would change the law so religious orders cannot use a disgusting legal strategy that has been adopted by the Christian Brothers when survivors take a case against them. As it stands, they’re using a technicality to force survivors who want to sue them to name every member of the order from the time they were abused. This can mean having to find the names of up to 120 people. Oftentimes, they have to go to the High Court to try to extract this information from the Christian Brothers. And that’s just to start the case. We would change the law to stop this grotesque abuse of the law.

We would also go after the property of religious orders. It must be remembered that much of the property assets, and financial wealth, of religious orders, came from endowments from the people of Ireland. We would change the law to ensure this wealth cannot be hidden in trusts. We would further pursue religious orders in the courts, to seize assets, if they refused to pay the compensation they owe.

(2.) Will you commit to maintaining the Basic Income For Artists (BIA) scheme beyond its current trial period and do you feel there’s scope for it to be expanded?

Yes, the arts are crucially important and this scheme provides essential financial support to artists. The Social Democrats will extend the current scheme and expand the number of people who can participate in it. As it stands, the scheme effectively excludes disabled artists, so the criteria for inclusion must be changed and expanded as a matter of urgency. If we really value the arts – and the huge contribution it makes to our economy, our society and our culture – we must meaningfully support the artists who make it.

(3.) Will you enact the Oireachtas Committee on Drugs’ recommendation to decriminalise the possession of all illicit drugs for personal use?

Yes. Decriminalisation must be combined with a broader health-based approach to addiction, increased funding for treatment and services, and a comprehensive plan to tackle poverty and deprivation. Continuing to criminalise those who have an addiction, rather than trying to provide health-based supports, does not work, wastes money and simply perpetuates the problem.

(4.) Can you give a clear timeframe for closing down Direct Provision?

Given the surge in the numbers of people seeking International Protection who have come here, that will take time. In government, we will prioritise a move away from the over-reliance on the private provision of accommodation (particularly hotels) to State-owned and run reception centres.

On two occasions, this year alone, the High Court has ruled that the government’s appalling treatment of International Protection applicants is unlawful. Nearly 3,000 people are now without any offer of accommodation, denied even a tent, while they face serious risks to their health and wellbeing from sleeping rough. This is especially concerning at this time of the year, when the weather is extremely cold and wet.

People who come to this country should be treated with dignity and humanity. This means they should be provided with accommodation, and decisions about their applications should be made quickly. They should not be languishing in the system for years.

An expert report published in 2021 recommended the delivery of six State-run reception and integration centres. More than three years later, the outgoing government has yet to announce the locations for these centres. They have utterly failed on this issue. In Government, we would deliver these centres and resource the system so that integration is easier and decisions can be made faster.

(5.) What would you do, concretely, to add to the pressure on Israel to end the slaughter in Gaza and Lebanon?

We would enact the Occupied Territories Bill, and introduce diplomatic and travel sanctions at a domestic level also. We would also ensure that weapons of war did not travel through Irish airports or Irish airspace and ban the export of dual use goods. At the EU, we would strongly lobby to end the EU/Israel trade deal – which has a human rights clause, which Israel is in flagrant breach of.

We would join South Africa and pursue a case of genocide at the International Court of Justice. We would also take a case against Israel to the International Criminal Court. We would continue to advocate for sanctions at the UN. Inaction in the face of genocide is complicity. Any action that can be taken against Israel, would be taken, if the Social Democrats were in government.

(6.) Should vulture funds, institutions or pension schemes (and similar) be prevented from buying up new housing, apartments etc?

Absolutely, yes. There is no good reason to allow funds to buy up existing homes and apartments. This drives up rents, increases house prices, locks out first time buyers and provides zero additional homes. Ordinary buyers should not be in competition with billion-dollar funds. We would ban the practice.

(7.) Do you have a specific policy with regards to repurposing the 100,000-plus derelict buildings in Ireland for housing?

Firstly, we need to end the situation where it’s profitable to leave a property vacant and allow it become derelict. We would increase the government’s vacancy tax from a derisory 0.7 per cent of the value of a home to at least 10 per cent – the current rate of house price inflation. If the tax is lower than the rate of house price inflation, then people can still profit from leaving a house lie idle, so it becomes functionally useless.

We would also set up a one-stop-shop for vacancy to provide advice for those looking to renovate vacant or derelict homes, and make the Vacant Property Refurbishment Grant available in instalments or staged payments. Where neither the carrot nor the stick works to prompt the sale or renovation of a derelict or vacant premises, we would use a specially created fund to compulsorily purchase and renovate these homes to use as social housing or affordable rental.

(8.) What will you do, again concretely, to stop social media and tech companies from enabling – and earning vast amounts of money from enabling – the spread of misinformation, by people determined to undermine democratic institutions and manipulate public opinion with lies?

The era of self-regulation for social media companies must end. Misinformation and disinformation are arguably one of the biggest threats to our democracy and to the rule of law. To combat this, we would establish a unit in the Department of the Taoiseach and appoint a Chief Information Security Office. We would also introduce legislation to regulate ‘preferences algorithms’ and ensure that engagement-based recommendation algorithms are turned off by default. Technology platforms must be accountable for their content and business models, including for algorithms which are designed to push violent, extremist and dangerous material to young people.

There is a clear need for legislation to strengthen the legal framework around the publishing responsibilities and obligations of online platforms. We believe that social media and other internet platforms should be transparent about their content moderation decisions and do much more to prevent dangerous disinformation from going viral. A failure to do so should come with serious financial sanctions.

(9.) What’s your plan for tackling the mental health crisis among young people, many of whom have to wait months, even years to access treatment?

For a start, we would nearly double the budget for mental health services to 10% of the overall healthcare budget. Secondly, we would address the crisis in recruitment and retention of staff. We have not been training nearly enough psychologists, psychotherapists, counsellors and other staff that we need for the sector, while many of those we do train are leaving the country due to appalling work conditions, the high cost of living and low prospects for home ownership.

We would establish a National Workforce Planning Taskforce to address the short, medium and long-term needs of the health sector, and provide funding for a workforce planning function in the Department of Health to lead the integrated healthcare workforce strategy. We have comprehensive plans to invest in public services – like affordable housing, healthcare, childcare and disability services – to address the cost of living crisis.

(10.) How do you solve the Dublin Airport capacity crisis?

A large percentage of passengers flying into Dublin airport immediately head south or west, out of Dublin, so it makes sense for them to use other airports like Cork and Shannon. There is huge unused capacity between these two airports alone; around five million passengers a year. A government that is serious about balanced regional development would try to spread the passenger load to the rest of the country.

This would reduce the pressure at Dublin airport. It is worth noting that the passenger cap, introduced in 2007, is based on the capacity of the road network to transport passengers to and from the airport. It is an indictment of successive governments that public transport options to and from the airport are still so woefully bad and that Metro is nowhere in sight. Ultimately, the passenger cap should be replaced by an emissions cap which is linked to emissions from the aviation sector.

BONUS QUESTION:

(11.) Are there any parties currently represented in the Dáil that you’d refuse to go into coalition with?

We will speak to all parties who are interested in going into government and see if we can find agreement. We won’t rule anyone out, but we won’t consider going into government just to make up the numbers. We would need to see a significant portion of our policy agenda in a Programme for Government, and our five dealbreakers would need to be met.

They are: the delivery of 50,000 affordable purchase homes; a public model of childcare; a minister for disability at the cabinet table; the delivery of a national health service free at the point of need, as outlined in the Sláintecare plan; and the publication of a new Climate Action Plan so we can meet our 2030 climate targets and avoid €8 billion in EU fines.

The General Election 2024 special is available to read in full in the new issue of Hot Press – while extracts will be shared on hotpress.com over the coming days.

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