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Daniel Pocock

Daniel Pocock

Independent

Schoolteacher quit his job to do open source, committed suicide. Another engineer died on our wedding day. If the culture of big tech is not safe for school teachers, if this culture is not even safe for the engineers who make it, how can it be safe for your kids? Read the evidence in my platform

  • Priority: Social issues and education

    Need to go further to protect children from tech industry agenda for childhood while ensuring they have world's best opportunities in STEM education.

  • Priority: Transport

    Member of team that was successful saving Upfield Railway in Melbourne. Need to bring success mentality to rail throughout Dublin and Ireland.

  • Priority: Environment, energy, agriculture

    Utility company demanding €17,000 in payment on home that was unoccupied after fire damage. If this happened to you too, please contact me.

These answers were provided by the candidate

Taxes and spending
1 of 31 questions
Money that is currently being saved for future policy challenges (such as climate change and an ageing population) should be spent now on things like housing and healthcare.
  • Strongly agree
  • Agree
  • Neither agree nor disagree
  • Disagree
  • Strongly disagree
  • No opinion
Comment: "Ireland doesn't have a good savings record so it seems foolish to erode savings"

- Daniel Pocock
Taxes and spending
2 of 31 questions
Taxes on people earning over €100,000 a year should be increased.
  • Agree
  • Neither agree nor disagree
  • Disagree
  • No opinion
Comment: "These people usually find a way around it anyway and some might even move to other countries if taxes are too high. If these people leave then the total tax revenue falls."

- Daniel Pocock
Taxes and spending
3 of 31 questions
The Universal Social Charge (USC) is a necessary source of revenue and should be kept.
  • Agree
  • Neither agree nor disagree
  • Disagree
  • No opinion
Comment: "USC is meant to support healthcare but in reality, health services are really bad. Couldn't find one doctor accepting new patients in the whole constituency. Therefore, both the means of charging for healthcare and the means of paying service providers needs to be overhauled to get better results"

- Daniel Pocock
Taxes and spending
4 of 31 questions
Tax on inheritance should be reduced, even if it means cutting back on public spending or increasing other taxes.
  • Agree
  • Neither agree nor disagree
  • Disagree
  • No opinion
Comment: "The tax hits middle income families who can't afford tax planning services used by wealthiest families. Has nasty side effects, children forced to sell home, lose money on transaction fees, if they don't have cash to pay the tax. Money lost in such transactions would be better spent on insulation"

- Daniel Pocock
Taxes and spending
5 of 31 questions
Universal payments, such as child benefit and energy credits, should be replaced with more targeted measures aimed at the less well-off.
  • Agree
  • Neither agree nor disagree
  • Disagree
  • No opinion
Comment: "Google, Facebook and Twitter need to pay a Universal Basic Income to small businesses and individuals who are losing money due to falsified online reviews, gossip campaigns and such things enabled by these platforms."

- Daniel Pocock
Housing
6 of 31 questions
The government should focus on making houses more affordable rather than providing financial supports to first-time buyers.
  • Agree
  • Neither agree nor disagree
  • Disagree
  • No opinion
Comment: "Need to look at how other European cities are able to provide a more balanced mix of apartments and houses."

- Daniel Pocock
Housing
7 of 31 questions
Planning guidelines should be relaxed to allow for more one-off rural housing
  • Agree
  • Neither agree nor disagree
  • Disagree
  • No opinion
Comment: "We can make much better use of the space in our cities. We could look at the example of Milton Keynes in the UK, which merged several smaller villages and do a similar project in Ireland."

- Daniel Pocock
Housing
8 of 31 questions
A rent freeze should be introduced across the country, even if it risks landlords leaving the market
  • Agree
  • Neither agree nor disagree
  • Disagree
  • No opinion
Comment: "While rent freezes are very popular with voters they tend to have the opposite effect in practice. For example, more people will illegally sub-let rooms for cash and keep the difference between the contractual rent and the cash they receive. Better solution: avoid increases during school year, etc"

- Daniel Pocock
Housing
9 of 31 questions
The Local Property Tax should be scrapped, even if it means less money available for local councils
  • Agree
  • Neither agree nor disagree
  • Disagree
  • No opinion
Comment: "Equivalent taxes in some similar countries like the US and Australia are bigger than LPT"

- Daniel Pocock
Transport
10 of 31 questions
The provision of public transport (trains, light rail, buses) should be prioritised over building roads
  • Agree
  • Neither agree nor disagree
  • Disagree
  • No opinion
Comment: "Trains are particularly important for Ireland. We already have a lot of railway lines that are unused and could be reactivated very quickly. But we shouldn't ignore the roads, we just need to find a better balance."

- Daniel Pocock
Transport
11 of 31 questions
The passenger cap at Dublin airport should be lifted
  • Agree
  • Neither agree nor disagree
  • Disagree
  • No opinion
Comment: "This question should be asked again after we build proper railways and other infrastructure linking all the Irish airports together. Right now, the passenger cap protects the airport and surrounding villages from gridlock."

- Daniel Pocock
Environment, energy, agriculture
12 of 31 questions
Carbon taxes should continue to increase each year
  • Agree
  • Neither agree nor disagree
  • Disagree
  • No opinion
Comment: "Need to have simultaneous support for people impacted by the tax, for example, supporting farmers and transport companies with low interest loans to replace equipment."

- Daniel Pocock
Environment, energy, agriculture
13 of 31 questions
Ireland should give up its exemption under the EU Nitrates directive
  • Agree
  • Neither agree nor disagree
  • Disagree
  • No opinion
Comment: "The EU nitrates directive is there to protect our own waterways. We need to improve our performance in reducing nitrates but simply giving up the exemption does not help the farmers achieve change."

- Daniel Pocock
Environment, energy, agriculture
14 of 31 questions
The government should introduce measures to significantly reduce the extent of livestock farming in Ireland
  • Agree
  • Neither agree nor disagree
  • Disagree
  • No opinion
Comment: "Then we would have to import more livestock and meat products from Australia or the US."

- Daniel Pocock
Environment, energy, agriculture
15 of 31 questions
Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) terminals should be allowed in Ireland, to improve security of supply
  • Agree
  • Neither agree nor disagree
  • Disagree
  • No opinion
Comment: "We already committed to reduce carbon emissions, why is this question still in the form?"

- Daniel Pocock
Social issues and education
16 of 31 questions
Abortion should be allowed in a wider range of circumstances.
  • Agree
  • Neither agree nor disagree
  • Disagree
  • No opinion
Social issues and education
17 of 31 questions
Policies to increase the representation of women in politics have gone too far
  • Agree
  • Neither agree nor disagree
  • Disagree
  • No opinion
Social issues and education
18 of 31 questions
New laws on hate speech should be introduced to protect vulnerable communities
  • Agree
  • Neither agree nor disagree
  • Disagree
  • No opinion
Comment: "Need to pay attention to the way social media algorithms are amplifying some forms of hate speech and making it look acceptable and more widespread than it really is."

- Daniel Pocock
Social issues and education
19 of 31 questions
Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) have too much power in Irish policy making
  • Agree
  • Neither agree nor disagree
  • Disagree
  • No opinion
Social issues and education
20 of 31 questions
Religious instruction should only take place outside school hours in Irish primary schools
  • Agree
  • Neither agree nor disagree
  • Disagree
  • No opinion
Social issues and education
21 of 31 questions
Gender diversity and transgender issues should be taught in Irish primary schools
  • Agree
  • Neither agree nor disagree
  • Disagree
  • No opinion
Immigration and asylum
22 of 31 questions
More resources should be given to improving conditions for asylum seekers
  • Agree
  • Neither agree nor disagree
  • Disagree
  • No opinion
Comment: "Putting them in hotels is very bad for the tourism industry so we need to find better solutions."

- Daniel Pocock
Immigration and asylum
23 of 31 questions
Communities should be obliged to take their fair share of asylum seekers, even if there is local opposition
  • Agree
  • Neither agree nor disagree
  • Disagree
  • No opinion
Comment: "It is not as simple as dividing them up into a "fair share""

- Daniel Pocock
Immigration and asylum
24 of 31 questions
Accommodation centres for asylum seekers should not be located in economically disadvantaged areas
  • Agree
  • Neither agree nor disagree
  • Disagree
  • No opinion
Comment: "Many asylum seekers are already suffering some trauma from relocation. Bundling them all into the same building and putting the building into a disadvantaged neighborhood may compound their anxiety and that costs more in the long run."

- Daniel Pocock
Immigration and asylum
25 of 31 questions
Rules on immigrant work permits and student visas should become more restrictive
  • Agree
  • Neither agree nor disagree
  • Disagree
  • No opinion
Comment: "Many student visas are being used as a scheme to bring people to Ireland for employment in low-paid jobs."

- Daniel Pocock
Crime and policing
26 of 31 questions
The solution to anti-social behaviour lies in tackling poverty and disadvantage rather than tougher policing
  • Agree
  • Neither agree nor disagree
  • Disagree
  • No opinion
Comment: "Just as exercise is better than going to the doctor."

- Daniel Pocock
Crime and policing
27 of 31 questions
Gardaí should take a more robust approach to dealing with political protests
  • Agree
  • Neither agree nor disagree
  • Disagree
  • No opinion
Comment: "Be careful to distinguish between peaceful political activity as opposed to the violent riots / vandalism. Even inside an individual protest event, 95% of people may be peaceful but 5% need Gardaí intervention. This 5% who behave badly at protests and sports events should not undermine majority"

- Daniel Pocock
Foreign policy and defence
28 of 31 questions
Ireland should continue to provide financial and political support to Ukraine in response to the ongoing war
  • Agree
  • Neither agree nor disagree
  • Disagree
  • No opinion
Comment: "Without our support, more refugees would be coming to Ireland"

- Daniel Pocock
Foreign policy and defence
29 of 31 questions
The EU should suspend its trade agreement with Israel
  • Agree
  • Neither agree nor disagree
  • Disagree
  • No opinion
Foreign policy and defence
30 of 31 questions
Ireland should retain its ‘triple lock’ rule for deploying troops abroad
  • Agree
  • Neither agree nor disagree
  • Disagree
  • No opinion
Foreign policy and defence
31 of 31 questions
Ireland should collaborate more with other EU member states on defence and security
  • Agree
  • Neither agree nor disagree
  • Disagree
  • No opinion
Irish unity
32 of 31 questions
A referendum on Irish unity should be held in the next five years
  • Agree
  • Neither agree nor disagree
  • Disagree
  • No opinion

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