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Killian Mangan

Killian Mangan

Independent

Instead of struggling to survive, we all deserve to thrive. We need an ambitious and radical plan to Democratise, Decentralise, and Decarbonise our society, our politics, and our economy. One where every element is both universal and accessible, with people and the planet at the core.

  • Priority: Housing

    I have years of experience in both Living Rent Tenants' Union in Scotland and CATU Waterford, where I am Comms Officer. We need universal homes.

  • Priority: Transport

    We need to enter the developed world with transport. Trams in all cities, expansive rural buses, 24/7 urban transport, and rapid train networks.

  • Priority: Taxes and spending

    We have among the highest wealth inequality in europe, and should tax wealth much, much more to reduce that inequality, and improve public services.

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: "While the Climate Crisis is an existential threat, many are struggling to survive and so don't have the capacity to care about climate politics; improving everyone's daily lives allows all of us to focus on the longer-term and to prepare for the future."

- Killian Mangan
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: "We have relatively high income inequality which leads to countless higher levels of everything from obesity to anxiety, to stress, to loneliness, to childhood bullying, to social cohesion, to crime rates. This is detailed in the book "The Spirit Level". Reducing inequality is how We All Thrive."

- Killian Mangan
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: "We need to move towards more progressive taxes both for workers and for businesses, as well as focusing more on taxing wealth instead of just taxing income as we do now; work creates things, while wealth often just sits there, adding nothing productive to the economy."

- Killian Mangan
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: "We have among the highest levels of wealth inequality in Europe, and the low number of people paying inheritance tax is a major reason for this. We need to move towards a real meritocracy where we are all born with an equal ability to thrive, instead of success being a lottery."

- Killian Mangan
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: "Universality is one of the most important values for any fair and just society. Our focus on means-testing and targeting just wastes time and money and reduces efficiency of public supports, as well as reducing social cohesion and promoting a 'divide and conquer' attitude."

- Killian Mangan
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: "Any demand-side scheme like HAP or Help To Buy just causes price inflation and the focus should be on actively increasing supply and reducing financialisation of housing in order to move from a profit-driven system to one based on public benefit, with a major focus on housing co-ops."

- Killian Mangan
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: "One-off housing should be allowed for those who want it, but an extra charge should be paid by owners to account for all externalities (such as extra costs for infrastructure and public services) which come as a result of low-density living, so that society doesn't pay for the benefit of a few."

- Killian Mangan
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: "We need to actively reduce rents; we need to introduce real rent controls, based on a rent index created by government, as already exists in most of Europe. The goal should be to minimise profit and financialisation of housing, as well as improving security and long-term tenure for tenants."

- Killian Mangan
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: "This is the only financial autonomy that local councils have and is much less than the similar council tax in the UK, as well as local taxes in most other nearby countries. We need to create a more progressive and expansive local property tax with reductions linked to lower incomes."

- Killian Mangan
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: "We have incredibly bad public transport relative to any other similar country, and that has caused major increases in cost of living for many people, as well as increasing loneliness and social isolation. Car dependence has caused so much damage to our society, and led to community breakdown."

- Killian Mangan
Transport
11 of 31 questions
The passenger cap at Dublin airport should be lifted
  • Agree
  • Neither agree nor disagree
  • Disagree
  • No opinion
Comment: "We should instead be moving towards a 4-day work week and more time off so that people have more time to travel, paired with a free public ferry company which provides slower but more comfortable travel to other nearby countries to link with their rail and bus networks."

- Killian Mangan
Environment, energy, agriculture
12 of 31 questions
Carbon taxes should continue to increase each year
  • Agree
  • Neither agree nor disagree
  • Disagree
  • No opinion
Comment: "Carbon taxes, as all individual consumption taxes, impact the working class the most. Profits and environmental externalities from capitalism should be taxed more and that used to fund measures to encourage change in a way which helps people and the planet, instead of pitting them against eachother."

- Killian Mangan
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: "We have incredibly polluted waterways which has caused major harms to our lives; while many in Continental Europe are thriving, hiking in biodiverse forests and swimming in pure lakes, we are disconnected from those free and fun activities due to pollution and industrial agriculture."

- Killian Mangan
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: "Importantly, this must be done with a class analysis at it's core; smaller farmers, many of whom are living in poverty, should face no reduction, but industrial farms (who are undercutting family farms) should face significant mandated reductions, which would help farm incomes and the planet."

- Killian Mangan
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 should be focusing all of our energy on creating free and self-sufficient renewable energy using a mix of a public renewable energy company and a series of local and autonomous energy co-ops owned by communities. Continued support for fossil gas is condemning our futures and future generations."

- Killian Mangan
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
Comment: "It would make sense to extend to 16 weeks as a standard and then later in exceptional circumstances. The waiting period is an insult and should be removed in all circumstances."

- Killian Mangan
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
Comment: "Women, like many less powerful groups in society, face so many extra systemic barriers and any policy to increase representation is just rebalancing an already-existing imbalance against women and in favour of men. As a proud feminist, I believe we must go much further to tackle systemic barriers."

- Killian Mangan
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: "As we become more interconnected than ever, we have begun to gain a new awareness of just how much impact hateful speech can have on individuals and on societal cohesion more widely. There must be fair restrictions, but less powerful and more targeted groups must be better protected by our State."

- Killian Mangan
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
Comment: "We need to democratise our society and our politics - instead of the democratic local governments that exist in the rest of the democratic world, we only have a much worse and less accountable net of NGOs who lack true democratic accountability. We need to empower workers and carers in communities."

- Killian Mangan
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
Comment: "We need to move towards a fully-secular country, where people's right to have a particular religious belief is balanced with other's right to have other beliefs or none at all. Organised religion's influence has caused much harm in our history, and we need to move past those systems of oppression."

- Killian Mangan
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
Comment: "As someone who's openly bisexual, I would have been spared so much shame and misery if the education system had supported me at the time; I feel empathy for trans people and others who are LGBT+ and still face major erasure or discrimination; education combats that pre-existing societal shame."

- Killian Mangan
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: "I have worked closely with asylum seekers while fighting the Green Party's decision to evict 3000 into homelessness in recent months, and have seen first-hand how Direct Provision is far from "a free home", but much like a bad homeless hostel, with major restrictions. We need humane accommodation."

- Killian Mangan
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: "Nobody has a veto on who their neighbours are, but I believe that with a more democratic and local system, full of empowered workers and carers in communities, most of the local opposition would dissipate. People feel rightly ignored, and the government is allergic to communication on an equal basis"

- Killian Mangan
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: "Any increase in population in an area should be an opportunity to provide more resources to ensure that areas become less socially deprived. Nobody should just accept that an area is deprived; new people moving in should focus government on building thriving new communities and better resources."

- Killian Mangan
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: "We need immigration as our population continues to age and we need more essential workers in our health service, operating our public transport, etc. It also helps massively with our soft power and has countless other intangible benefits. Our low population density leads to inefficient services."

- Killian Mangan
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: "Our politics is horribly reactive and simplistic a lot of the time. We need to focus on more proactive and positive policies instead of the current situation where Fine Gael & Fianna Fáil inflict poverty and deprivation on people, only to then further punish them with pointless incarceration."

- Killian Mangan
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: "This question is too vague to answer; the definition of political protests is incredibly broad. If it is something that is inciting harm to people or breaking down democratic norms, then yes. But I am wary of any more power for the Gardaí as power is a corruptible influence."

- Killian Mangan
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: "We must defend Ukraine and their ideals in every way possible, while staying true to our stance of military neutrality and ensuring that we do not promote war and escalation by supporting military actions."

- Killian Mangan
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
Comment: "Israel is a genocidal state which is proven to operate a system of apartheid. The EU is Israel's largest trading partner, which gives us immense influence in stopping their constant war crimes in Palestine and Lebanon. We should focus everything we can on influencing the US and the EU to stop them."

- Killian Mangan
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
Comment: "The proposal to weaken it is a further attack on our neutrality, and we should be enshrining neutrality in our constitution (after a citizen's assembly on deciding the wording and fleshing out our concept of neutrality). We thrive in a multilateral world with a fair and empowered UN."

- Killian Mangan
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
Comment: "We should collaborate only with other neutral states such as Austria, Switzerland, and Malta, in parallel structures to the EU. Our cooperation with EU member states as a whole should only extend to cybersecurity and no physical military or physical collaboration."

- Killian Mangan
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
Comment: "The present just impoverishes everyone on the island, especially the working class people in Northern Ireland and those in border countries who are denied good, interconnected infrastructure. We need citizen's assemblies first and to learn from Scotland's approach with their independence papers."

- Killian Mangan

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