The Social Democrats have today launched their election manifesto entitled ‘Invest in Better’. The document, which is fully costed and runs to 123 pages, sets out a roadmap for what it calls a ‘uniquely Irish version of the Nordic model’ and covers topics from health and housing to LGTBTQI+ rights.
The manifesto commits to a clear set of socially democratic policy proposals including the full funding and implementation of Sláintecare, 100,000 homes on public land, a commitment to genuinely improving work/life balance for all and a public transport plan which seeks to reshape the current National Development Plan in order to shift priority onto cycling and public transport options and with a goal to ringfence any windfall gains for the DART underground.
Party co-leader Róisín Shortall said:
“This document is a roadmap. A set of policies firmly grounded in a socially democratic approach of fairness, we believe taking the approach outlined in the document would not only address the immediate challenges facing Ireland such as the affordability crisis in housing and the dysfunction of the health service, but would ensure we forge a more sustainable path to stop the traditional Irish electoral cycle of broken promises and implementation deficit.”
Catherine Murphy, the party’s other co-leader agreed, saying:
“As we start a new decade, there has got to be a realisation that there is a better way of doing things. Too often in Ireland we have settled for second best – public services which are not the quality they should be. As social democrats, we fundamentally believe that meaningful strategic investment in public services is the best way to put real money back in people’s pockets on a daily basis by ensuring they don’t have to fork out for the basic services the State should provide such as health, childcare, affordable homes. This manifesto sets out a very clear, practical, path to deliver such a society.”
31st Jan 2020
[ENDS]
Notes:
1. Invest In Better is available at here
2. The Social Democrats are running 20 candidates across the country.