It's time for some campaigning! (Some) Limerick East Candidates Answer Some Questions

Over at Newstalk, Tom Dunne has put together a list of questions to ask any politicians that come canvassing to your door. Quite good ones too, ranging from such topics as the merits of Ford Fiestas versus Ministerial Mercs, Ireland's morbidly obese public sector cats, to the good old HSE. While I too, over the last couple of years, have thought of a fair few questions and or rants to put to our elected members and those seeking office, owing to sheer forgetfulness and not carrying a pen and paper with me everywhere I go, don't have said questions and rants to hand. So instead, I took the easy way out, and last night re-directed Tom Dunne's questions to all the declared candidates running in the Limerick East electoral area.

For the purposes of this exercise I only asked the first eleven questions, which I e-mailed last night. I'm going to publish their replies here, as they come in.

First off the mark was Cllr Joe Leddin, Labour , here was his reply:

James,

Labour will shortly launch our universal health insurance plan which will be centered around the medical needs of a patient and not their ability to pay,

Labour has launched a policy reform document outlining 140 proposed changes on how Government does its business

Labour will launch our economic plan including €500 m jobs fund on thursdat next, we opposed the ban bailout and were the only party to vote against same

Limerick has reduced from 5 to 4 seats so if other 5/4 seat constituencies were also reduced then we would reduce the dail by between 30/40 T.D.'s, i will be attending the St Patricks day parade in Limerick

Our website is updating policy documents on a daily basis if you require additional information

regards

So a fairly comprehensive reply then, not sure if all eleven questions were addressed in their entirety though.

Next up came Michael Noonan TD, who took a brief is best approach:

Dear James,

Thank you very much for your E Mail which I have forwarded to our policy
unit for direct answer.

Yours sincerely,
MICHAEL NOONAN, T.D.

So make what you like of the responses. Decide for yourself is a rushed together personal response better than a neat and short reply passing the buck onto an advisor. Perhaps a handwritten letter would have been better, but then time is ticking down to February 25th. I'll be posting any other responses I get here.

Why did Alan Kelly MEP call for the resignation of Mayor of Limerick Kevin Kiely?

I find it outrageous that Labour MEP Alan Kelly would call for the resignation of an elected holder of public office on the grounds that he doesn't agree with what he says. Freedom of speech is enshrined in our constitution, and I believe that Mayor Kiely was simply exercising this right in his comments reported in the Irish Examiner this week.

There is nothing wrong with Mr Kiely criticising so-called "welfare tourism" where it does exist. My criticism of him would be that he didn't indicate that social welfare fraud by Irish people is equally as harmful as abuse by those from overseas.

According to the Limerick Leader, Mr Kelly said that Mr Kiely's comments smack of "right wing comments." Surely as a member of Fine Gael, a right-wing party, it is only right and proper that Mayor Kiely should be coming out with right wing comments? I recall that Leo Varadkar mooted the idea of adopting a Spanish-style pay immigrants to go home style policy in the last 18 months or so. It must be said that the Spanish system and any proposals Varadkar mentioned would be limited to non-EU nationals.

Despite what Mr Kelly was reported to have said in the Leader, Limerick has not always been welcome to outsiders. To say so is just a warm and fuzzy meaningless electorate-pleasing soundbite.

I believe Alan Kelly should retract his call for the Mayor's resignation. I too disagree with Mayor Kiely's sentiments, and am actually alarmed at his grasp of how the social welfare system in this country operates. However, he has simply voiced his opinion, thereby encouraging much-needed debate on the issue of welfare entitlements.