A Labour MEP candidate has called for a housing commissioner to be set up in Europe to deal with the housing crisis across the continent.
Labour TD for Dublin Bay North Aodhán Ó Riordáin, says he was motivated to run for European parliament after the Dublin riots in November, and is concerned by the rise of racism in Ireland.
Mr Ó Riordáin says he will not run in the next General Election should be elected as an MEP, and intends to put housing as a priority.
"I think if we had a housing commissioner it would really bring Europe closer to people's mindsets. Europe is quiet remote from people's mindsets, they don't necessarily know who their MEP's are. That is part of the problem, MEP's get elected and they go missing for five years.
"We are talking about it with the Social Democrats group, we want to have a housing commissioner, we want to make social and affordable housing a European issue.
"I think in Ireland, we need to change the State aid rules that local authorities are currently not equipped to bulk build social and affordable housing."
Immigration has been a talking point leading up to the election, with tents once again removed from the Grand Canal.
This has been the third time in the past month which this has happened, with welfare payments to Ukrainian refugees also cut in recent weeks.
Mr Ó Riordáin says this is a failure of Government policy, and also criticised the Government's and Sinn Féin's shift to the right on immigration.
"It has been shambolic. There has been a number of things with this issue I have been deeply uncomfortable with. The dehumanisation of those who are affected by it that come here, the fact that we don't have a proper information flow by the Government to say what the facts and figures are about our immigration policy.
"The fact that the far-right have been allowed to gain momentum and gain fraction, there is a level of anti-immigration feeling out there which is quite disturbing.
"Before the invasion of Ukraine, the Government had a report that we needed six large accommodation centres. They don't have an excuse as to why that wasn't done and why that policy wasn't pursued."
The Labour TD has taken issue with the timing of recent policy changes to immigration, and compared the language used by some politicians of the EU migration pact to Nigel Farage.
Mr Ó Riordain says he would not vote for the EU migration pact in its current form, raising concerns over human rights issues, but says a migration pact with changes could be implemented.
"People like Sinn Féin are now reversing their decision to support hate crime legislation. When it comes to the EU Migration pact, people are talking about sovereignty first, and that is straight out of the Nigel Farage playbook.
"You have Fianna Fáil talking about border checks, you have people in Fine Gael talking about deportation crackdowns. You have Sinn Féin talking about sovereignty. All of this is election stuff.
"When I first ran for election 20 years ago, it was the time of the citizenship referendum, we were all told to be afraid of 'pregnant African women', now we being told to be afraid of 'military aged men.'
"It is pathetic, because I thought we were better than this, I really thought we were. People can criticise the Labour party, but the one thing we don't do is play the race card."
The world was horrified by images from Rafah this week, as dozens of people were killed by Israeli air strikes.
At the time of writing, over 36,000 people have been killed in Palestine since October, as efforts continue to establish a ceasefire.
European commissioner president Ursula von der Leyen has been heavily criticised for her support for Israel since October, and the Labour TD says she cannot remain in her position.
Commenting on the EU response, Mr Ó Riordáin says it has been "Pathetic, appalling, disgusting".
"Ursula von der Leyen disgraced herself in supporting Israel, she knew exactly what they were going to do. Anyone that knows anything about this conflict knows Israel always respond disproportionately.
"We are now looking at 40,000 dead, a huge number of Palestinian children, and Ursula von der Leyen has no place in the future of the European movement in my view.
"The EU are Israel's biggest trading partner, so until we have a total boycott of the Israeli state, we are not going to have a ceasefire or a peace process."
The Labour TD also criticised Fine Gael MEPs who plan to support Ms von der Leyen, and says a vote for Fine Gael will lead to support for the far-right in Europe.
"You vote Fine Gael in this election, and you get Fine Gael and Ursula von der Leyen and co-operation with the far-right.
"The far-right are not just anti-immigrant, but it is also climate change-denying, attacking gay rights and women's rights. That is what you are playing around with."
On the issue of rising militarisation, Mr Ó Riordáin says he is worried about plans to remove the triple lock as it was not in the plan for Government.
While he emphasised the importance of Ireland remaining militarily neutral, he stressed the importance that Russia does not win the war in Ukraine.
"We are not neutral when it comes to Ukraine: I believe Russia has to lose. If Russia does not lose, they are going to turn their eyes to Moldova, they are going to turn their eyes to Estonia, they are going to turn their eyes to Poland, and then it will be a far more serious situation."
The Dublin Bay North TD has criticised the language used by some Irish politicians in relation to the invasion of Ukraine, and does not believe peace talks are possible with the Russian government.
"That sounds like surrender to me. Some Irish MEPs need to be careful with their language. Let's be clear here, it is pretty much a facist regime in Russia.
"They are involved in electoral interference, they hacked our own HSE system. To think we can have some kind of agreement over future borders when it comes to Ukraine is nonsense."
