JCFJ guide to pre-election asks

Rising inequality; the housing and homelessness crisis; climate change; war and conflict. These are the many “wicked issues” that feature in the ‘Jesuit Centre for Faith and Justice Manifesto »‘. As Ireland prepares for a General Election the Manifesto proposes policy directions and steps that will serve justice and the common good in the next Dáil.

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Pre-Election asks

“Integral ecology” is a source from which we can weave a coherent, compelling, and convincing narrative to counter business as usual. Through this lens, we do not face a series of crises in parallel, some social and others environmental. Rather, they are all expressions of the same fundamental failure to recognise the dignity of our neighbour and the dignity of the world in which we find ourselves.

Here we propose policy directions and steps that will serve justice and the common good in the next Dáil, grouped around our four interlocking areas of concern: the housing and homelessness crisis, the climate and biodiversity collapse, economic ethics, and penal policy. These recommendations are not utopian but can all be delivered. They do not represent everything that can be said on these particular topics, never mind all that must be said across the breadth of Irish society.

The spectre of extremist voices loom large as we approach the General Election. It is clear that there is a growing boldness to the Far Right in Irish society. We understand politics through the ancient definition — the conversation we sustain to share the things we love in common. Responding to the threat of anti-democratic extremism with flat, procedural politics will be a dead-end. We maintain that the most effective measure to overcome this threat is the ambitious pursuit of the loves we share in common. This is possible through the provision of high quality services — beginning with housing — in a form that is accessible to everyone.

This is not just a question of political strategy, but basic justice. These voices that trample others dignity have space to move because our current system does not recognise the dignity of everyone. The 4,400 children without homes testifies to that. The next Dáil must address these fundamental challenges directly and ambitiously. To fail to honour the dignity of our neighbours – regardless of where they were born – runs the risk of Irish society facing existential threats from within. Business as usual cannot be the way forward.

We ask that those who form the next Government commit to:

1. Implement a “Vienna Model” Cost Rental
2. Address Vacancy and Dereliction
3. Implement the Kenny Report recommendations on development land prices
4. Maintain and grow the Active and public Transport funding and infrastructure
5. Holistic commitment to nature restoration
6. Sustainable agriculture reforms and just transition for farmers
7. Work towards the provision of Universal Basic Services
8. Appoint an Ombudsman for Future Generations
9. Critically consider the externalities of the gambling industry
10. Single-cell occupancy for women in prison
11. Independent prison ombudsman for prisoner complaints and investigations
12. Full implementation of the Nordic Model, with particular focus on the prevalence
of human trafficking in the sex industry.