Meet the candidates: Claire Murray, Fianna Fáil

Here is our Q&A with Claire Murray who will contest the general election for Fianna Fail in the Offaly constituency. A native of Edenderry, she has been a member of Offaly County Council since June, and has over 20 years of experience in nursing. She currently works as a practice nurse in a GP practice in Rhode.

Having just recently being elected to Offaly County Council, do you feel you have the experience to represent Offaly in the Dáil?

The Dáil ultimately needs a variety of voices, and I was elected to Offaly County Council in June. I have 20 years experience in nursing, and that's 20 years of advocating for people both medically, and also with social issues. I've worked across departments from A&E to palliative care, and most recently worked as a nurse in a local GP practice in Rhode where I hear first hand about the experiences that face Offaly people on a daily basis.

I have been campaigning on important issues in our community for years. I am the chair of the committee which objects to the Oxigen waste management facility that was planned for Rhode. Recently we had success whereby the planning was refused. This demonstrates how I'm able to fight for community issues, as well as healthcare and social issues.

On housing, why should the Irish people vote your party back into power when homelessness is at a record level in this country?

Homelessness is very serious, and any honest commentary has to address how it's become even more difficult to reduce because of the rising population and other social factors. Fianna Fáil is, and always has been, the party that builds more houses. We've had 1,500 homes built since 2020, and 500 of those have been social housing.

In the last quarter 700 households exited emergency accommodation by way of a tenancy being created, and that's a significant increase of 24%. With regard to preventing people entering homelessness, almost 980 households have been prevented from entering emergency accommodation by way of a tenancy being created for them, again this is a significant increase of 37%.

How do you intend to address the economic concerns that many people face due to the rising costs of groceries, insurance, etc?

We want to help families and businesses to cope with higher prices through reducing energy, insurance and the weekly shop costs because we know they're gone through the roof recently. We want to keep VAT on gas and electricity bills at 9% for the next five years. We want to encourage competition in the insurance industry, and to invest in improved efficiency in logistics chains to reduce the cost of moving products.

What issues will be your main priorities if you get elected to the Dail in this election?

One of the biggest issues is getting the waiting lists reduced for children with autism for both their diagnosis and their therapies, but also children on disability services waiting lists. Mental health is another huge one for me. Another would be the peat-based roads. Uniquely in Offaly we have a lot of peat under our roads, and the only answer to this is more funding. The roads are not fit for purpose.