WHAT HAZEL BELIEVES IN
"I come from a hardworking family and understand the difficulties and injustices faced by the ordinary worker every day in Irish Society. We are living through a climate crisis and need to implement practical solutions which can restore the natural world and at the same time improve our daily quality of life. This cannot be achieved overnight, but I believe change is possible and we can make it together".
ISSUES THAT MATTER TO ME
Climate and Biodiversity
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Generational Effort: The climate and biodiversity crises are the biggest threats to all life on Earth, including our own. We need to change the way we do politics. Everything we do, from building our homes and cities to consuming goods will need to change in one way or another.
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A Greener Economy: The last few years has made it abundantly clear that our global economy is vulnerable and our economic practises are unsustainable. A circular economy will be better able to handle future crises, especially to our supply chains, while improving opportunities for local producers.
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Local Government: I will work with the Minister for local government on waste services with a focus on municipalisation and affordability.
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Protect Our Rivers: I will introduce legislation that protects our rivers and fresh water bodies. This needs to ensure areas of ecological importance, like Dublin Bay, are protected from pollution and sewage.
Housing
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Green Mortgages: Giving first time buyers more financial support to buy newer, more energy efficient homes.
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Review of Homelessness: The current housing crisis has led to unprecedented homelessness. I want to continue a national review to explore the best new policies to alleviate this issue.
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Retrofitting: the greenest home is one that has already been built. We cannot meet our goals in emission reduction without making our homes more energy efficient and cheaper to heat.
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Vacant Sites: Recently my motion on tackling vacant and derelict sites with a fit for purpose inventory listing was passed. I want to apply these solutions nationally and bring legislation through the Seanad to make our vacant and derelict sites usable.
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Student Accommodation: I will work towards the government providing Universities with the start-up capital needed to fund affordable student accommodation.
Inclusion and Diversity
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Diversity Enriches All Our Lives: I want to continue to fight for greater inclusion within Irish society and to ensure that the voices of marginalised communities are heard.
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The 27th Amendment: Support reform to repeal the 27th amendment
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LGBTQ+ Persecution: Strengthen legislation to support those fleeing persecution in coming to Ireland.
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Direct Provision: Continue to work to abolish Direct Provision. Until that happens, work to improve conditions, strengthen supports in education settings for those moving through and from Direct Provision.
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University Funding: Support universities to move towards a model of state funded, affordable student accommodation. Support PhD and postdoctoral candidates with a living wage.
Women’s Rights
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Gender-based Violence: We have seen countless, terrible acts of violence committed against Irish women for many years. Recent tragedies have only highlighted publicly what has been an ongoing issue for many in our society. I will fight for immediate policy change in education to ensure we have consent and anti-harassment policy for secondary and primary schools. I have and will continue to fight for oversight for proper implementation of third level policies to tackle gender based and sexual violence.
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Free Contraception: The provision of free contraception and free sanitary protection to ALL women in Ireland.
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The Online Safety Bill: Improve legislation to tackle gender based harassment and abuse in person and online.
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Gender Balance: We need all boards to have a gender quota of at least 40% women, particularly in education.
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Supporting Breastfeeding: Continue working for accessible supports around breastfeeding, and remove the advertising of infant formula in Ireland.