Cllr Sarah O'Reilly, Aontú

Why did you enter politics?

I care about the people of my constituency and I want to make Ireland the best place to live, raise a family, work and retire.

Where do you sit on the political spectrum?

Aontú is a grass roots centre left party. A Pluralist, Republican Party.

What is your main campaigning issue?

Housing and Planning, Cost of Living, Accountability and Health Services, in particular mental Health and disability assessment, supports and therapies.

What would you do in government to address it?

There are 4,000 boarded up local authority houses in the country. There are 100,000 vacant private houses. This a scandal in the midst of the worst housing crisis this country has experienced. It takes local authorities up to eight months to turn houses around. The private sector can do it in less than eight weeks. In Government, Aontú will build 15,000 social and affordable homes during the life of the new Dáil. We will introduce Operation Shamrock - we will bring construction workers home from countries like Canada and Australia.

Put these in order of importance?

1. Housing; 2. Health; 3. Roads; 4. Policing 5. Education; 6. Job Creation; 7. Defence

* These are all very important, with the levels of crisis in each sector astounding.

Can we afford more refugees?

As a wealthy country we should be able to provide for people. However the outgoing government spent well over a billion using private accommodation providers. It did a grave injustice to both local communities and people coming to our country for help. Real compassion is not giving tents to people to sleep on cold, wet ground. This situation has been grossly mismanaged by the outgoing government.

Should Ireland sanction Israel?

We support sanctions against Israel, and we support the expulsion of the Israeli Ambassador until there is peace in the area.

What's the answer to the biodiversity/climate crises?

One of the most environmentally friendly initiatives is doing up vacant properties, however the uptake on the current grants is too low. Aontú is calling for these grants to be paid incrementally to enable buyers to actually afford to get the work done. Aontú will provide 8,000 vacant home grants of up to €70K each.

Do we need state-run childcare facilities?

The government are putting tens of thousands of euro into the pockets of big chain providers while completely neglecting the small yet hard-working, largely female-run businesses who need the support most. It makes no sense for Sinn Féin and government to propose subsidies or caps without simultaneously working to save the sector from closure and seeking to make these providers viable so that they'll stay and we can have increased places for children.

One way to help revive towns and villages?

In addition to revamping current vacant homes grant scheme, Aontú will provide a similar grant of up to €30,000 for refurbishment of ‘above the shop’ accommodation. We will reduce the regulation that is stopping so many people from living in the centre of towns.