Meet the candidates: Aisling Dolan, Fine Gael (Roscommon Galway)

Here is our Q&A with Ballinasloe resident Aisling Dolan, who was appointed as a Senator in June 2020, as a Taoiseach’s Nominee and is Fine Gael Seanad spokesperson for Education and Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science.

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

For Roscommon-Galway, I want to see more investment in terms of housing. We have seen social housing come on stream - in my own home town that's 130 odd units - family homes that people are moving into over the last six months. It was so urgently needed.

One of the really positive things I've seen in Roscommon is the Vacant Home Refurbishment Scheme - and that allows you to get up to €50,000 to refurbish a house if it was built in 2008 or 2009. If it's structurally defective you can apply for an additional €20,000. We see in Roscommon that it is one of the top ten counties in terms of applications for this scheme, and there's already been 11 million drawn down.

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

One measure that I would work towards is to increase the tax threshold for working families. The median income for working families is now €47,000 - and paying a lower rate of tax will but almost €2,000 straight back in their pocket.

The target is that by the end of 2025 all will have access to the free hot school meals programme. It takes the pressure off of parents, and they know their child is having nutritious food in school.

What is your proudest achievement in the Roscommon-Galway region over the past five years?

I secured funding for the new 50-bed block in Portiuncula Hospital - it will replace the ward block. We have great healthcare staff in Portiunucla, we've increased staff there.

Now with this 50-bed block, we will have really high quality accommodation for patients.

What would you do differently?

I brought forward a motion about increasing funding for school bus transport. If you're living in a rural area, and you don't have a bus - it's a huge challenge for parents. We're lacking in that infrastructure in the west and it's not good enough. We also need to look at more flexible roles for bus drivers.

What issues would be your top priority if you are elected to the Dáil?

I'm Spokesperson on Education currently, so that would remain as my top priority. I want to be an advocate for people in rural areas and small towns. The likes of investment in Local Link bus services, to allow students to get to college, to allow rural communities to get into town centres, and to get into hospitals like Portiuncula. How we support young families is also a huge priority for me.