The problem currently is the mass of delays that we are facing. We are in the middle of a homelessness crisis, the largest we have ever faced. It has gone on far too long and only escalated to record levels through government and councils that are being led by Fianna Fail, Fine Gael and now the Greens.

We would prioritise getting housing built in the city by reducing delays, using new building technology and incentivising the building of affordable homes. Our plan is to streamline the whole process by only delivering public housing on public land and utilise it to deliver homes that are actually affordable, including social housing. Sinn Fein councillors working with a Sinn Fein government can and plan to achieve all of this.

Eoin O Broin who is our spokesperson on Housing and Local Government has written books and is very vocal about how we plan to deliver affordable and social homes in the Alternative Budget 2024. Ultimately, the change we need is not in planning or delivery, it lies within the change we need in the government to undo the mess of decades of bad housing policy.

Currently people are living in damp, mouldy and homes that are unmaintained sufficiently by the council. This is not just the houses internally, but lots of issues are to do with the maintenance within the area itself. For example, there are vermin who are wreaking havoc in a lot of the inner-city complexes due to the mishandling of waste management in the complexes by Dublin City Council.

One way we feel we could tackle public and social housing would be to prioritise the homes in the greatest need of repair. This will significantly reduce waiting lists for basic maintenance. Prioritising the regeneration and rejuvenation of flat complexes is something that I am passionate about, as is the party. I live in the flats; I was reared in the flats, and they are in unliveable states some of them. Residents should not have to fight to have basic needs met, but this is an everyday occurrence and the council kick the can down the road which leads to a worsening state of that person's home.

This all requires funding which needs to come from government for councils to maintain, refurbish and retrofit the Council properties. Sinn Fein in terms of private renters, wants greater security for all private renters and to also ensure that the properties are meeting minimum standards. Part of the reason for a large deficit in the private market is due to the majority being not fit for purpose. Sinn Fein also wants to increase the proportion and supply of the social rental, affordable cost rental and affordable ownership homes to replace those which are unfit.

There are many things that the City Council could do to ensure we have a cleaner environment and city overall. The bin services for one should brought back into public ownership. We should also develop public waste services and ensure that there are communal bins and recycling centres. Unfortunately, the privatisation of the bins did not help. It has increased the costs on households and our city too. The lack of investment in sufficient waste management has now led to an increase in illegal dumping.

The Council is not funded adequately enough to ensure the city is cleaned and maintained as it should be. If there were a tax introduced such as a hotel bed night tax to raise funding to maintain the city that would effectively raise money needed to invest in keeping our city cleaner.

Dog fouling in the city has been an issue for some time now. Ultimately it does fall on an individual and unfortunately not every owner cleans up after their dog. Perhaps there needs to be more education about why it is important to clean up after your dog or improved reporting of offenders to the City Council. Community Wardens could be beneficial.

Sinn Féin would use the vacant homes tax and derelict sites levy to tackle speculative purchase and non-productive holding of vacant and derelict properties. We would make use of Buy and Renew and Compulsory Purchase powers to return derelict properties to use. We would resource Council to acquire and return properties to use and speed up the reletting of vacant council properties.

Sinn Féin would bring a proactive approach to identifying and planning for the strategic development of significant underutilised land banks, particularly those which are already held by state bodies. This must be balanced against the need to develop local sport and parks capacity which can support increasing housing density in the inner city.

There has been a decline in our Gardaí since 2009. We are one of the only cities in Europe where you don’t see a member of the police on most street corners. The lack of police and lack of funding for the Gardaí has allowed for anti-social and illegal behaviour to become normal. Organised crime has thrived while the Gardaí have diminished year by year. More Gardaí is not the answer to solve this either. We also need to invest more in social care and other services that can be early intervention.

In order to promote community development, we would also make investments in primary social work and care services. In order to prevent, avoid, and divert, disparities in housing, sports and recreation, education, and work must be addressed. We need to fund and invest more money into the social workers in local communities that are more affected by organised crime. It was the community projects in my area such as the Talk About Youth Project in Saint Andrews that make the biggest impact. We had Young Womens Clubs, there was singing, dancing and acting in Eddies Club, they also take part in exchanges with other youth groups. These clubs all make a difference, I know they did for me.

We need to get more creative regarding our public transport and urban planning for sure. Our neighbouring countries are decades ahead of us in terms of public transport. This is intrinsically linked with the ability to live near where you work, or work near where you live which then highlights the failures around affordable housing and rent caps.

Prominent infrastructural initiatives, such the Luas to Poolbeg and the Dodder public transit bridge, are moving inadequately. Infrastructure needs to be delivered more quickly in order to facilitate convenient public travel. In order to ensure that there are easy connections when new residents move in, public transport should also be provided before significant new residential developments.

We also need more funding for existing public transport such as Dublin Bus, the DART and Irish Rail. There is more that can be done to improve routes, expand them and link up existing services. It really does come down to a lack of imagination.

I feel that better planning of the city is required. The use of protected and joined up pedestrian and cycling infrastructure must be better thought out. If we are more aware of areas with low vehicle ownership rates, then we can support these communities in moving around their local areas, whether it is by cycling or by walking.

Dublin is a rich city, with beautiful buildings and an abundance of history around every corner, but our cities have been planned around cars. There is change needed but we still need to be cognisance of the people who rely on cars. Those who are not able bodied, are carers or parents need to be supported to access and travel around the city. In the same vein, those who are dependent on cars need to be given the option of an upgraded public transport system. It is no secret that we have one of the worst public transport systems in the world – we are seriously lagging, and it needs to be a priority.

It is of paramount importance to me to act in favour of a fair, equal and diverse society for the better of our community. The arson attacks and pre-meditated damaged to emergency accommodation centres are unacceptable. It is also unacceptable that there is still no permanent solution to the homelessness crisis, which this is all a cause of. We have more places for homeless or emergency accommodation than we do permanent homes. This is due to consistent political failures by past governments. Time and time again we are let down, we are told that it will change and since 2010, nothing has. It’s time for real actionable change, and people should vote in favour of those who they believe have the power to make these changes.

In my opinion, transparency and education are the way forward. Transparency with communities and what is going on and giving them adequate time and notice to be heard. Education around the anti-LGBT+ would benefit everyone. As a gay woman, I feel that we could all be more aware of how to treat each other in general and not just exclusively because you are gay.

There is a mass of miseducation and fear mongering around the LGBTQ+ Community, Immigrants and Asylum seekers. There is a plethora of videos on the internet that are not fact checked, are hate fuelled and then become part of your algorithm. To me it comes down to people being neglected, and it has been going on in my community for generations, they are hurt, tired and angry. My flats sit adjacent to one of the biggest accounting firms across the globe. Beside us then are apartments that are upwards of 2.5k a month to rent. We have been left behind while around us has been amplified.

The issue with immigration, international protection and direct provision have never been fit for purpose. Processing times are far too long, and it is unclear how regularly the decisions are enforced. There are people who live and work here even report the long waits around processing times. Unfortunately, none of this has been fixed because there are people making millions from this dysfunction. The government are more concerned with the money going into the pot than providing a fair and transparent system. We are all angry, we all need this to be a priority to be fixed once and for all.