Independent Ireland candidate for Galway West, Cllr. Noel Thomas, says that people in his constituency are “pissed off” at seeing recent arrivals to Ireland being “looked after” when they themselves are “struggling” with the cost of living.
Thomas said that he disagrees with messages in the media saying that immigration is less of a major issue for voters saying, “I would have to say they’re incorrect on that.”
He continued, “By far the biggest thing I’ve seen on the door is that people are completely pissed off with the fact that so many people who are coming into this country and getting looked after and getting everything they want, and the fact that they are struggling to get anything.”
“They can’t get medical cards if they’re twenty euro over the income threshold or whatever,” he said, adding that many were also struggling with issues like the cost of student accommodation.
“They feel that nothing is available to them.”
“That seems to be the biggest hurt for people out there, it’s the cost of living,” he said.
He said that he did not believe media polls about the popularity of establishment parties saying that what he is hearing on the doors does not reflect what’s being reported.
Thomas said that the second biggest issue he has heard at the doors is “a close one between housing and carers.”
“Housing is a big issue and it’s the fact that there’s no housing available, you can’t buy a house, you can’t rent a house because the cost is too high anyway.”
He said that even when a house goes on the market locals in parts of rural Galway cannot compete with the financial power of Dublin buyers “who have loads of money” looking for a holiday home.
“Locals cannot compete in that market,” he said.
He said that carers who are “saving the state a small fortune” are struggling to survive, telling the case of a man who gave up his job to look after his autistic daughter but is unable to secure a carer’s allowance because his wife works.
Thomas said that the carer’s allowance “should not be means tested.”
“They’re saving the state a small fortune, but yet the state are not recognizing what they’re doing for them whatsoever, no support there for them, even in relation to getting the equipment that needed to retain someone at home, everything is an absolute struggle,” he said, describing the situation as “scandalous”.
The former Fianna Fáil member said that planning issues were also a big concern for people in rural Galway and that often locals wishing to build homes were faced with having to prepare environmental impact reports which he said added to the cost of building a home.
Thomas said that even for those granted planning permission, it was often the case that added costs like that meant that people find themselves unable to build afterall.
