#GE2020: Dr Cathal Berry, Independent
"I'm asked because neither can get a timely GP appointment," he said at his campaign launch in Newbridge last week. "They are afraid to go to the nearest Emergency Department to languish for days on a trolley."
He knows the Emergency Department situation from the front line, as a hospital doctor in emergency medicine for almost six years. He also has perspectives from other front lines, serving more than two decades in the defence forces as troop commander, staff officer, military observer and medical officer. He served five tours-of-duty overseas in the Balkans, Africa and the Middle East, working with the European Union, NATO and the United Nations.
"Primary care services in the community and step-down facilities must be adequately resourced," he says. "Hospitals' capacity to deal with larger numbers of patients must be improved in terms of bed numbers, staff and diagnostics. I have the personal expertise and experience acquired in this area to be brought to bear on this problem. I will not be deflected by bureaucracy or dated thinking."
Like almost every candidate on the Kildare South hustings, Dr Berry notes his other political priorities as housing, education, the environment and defence forces families.
“If elected, and if lending my voting support to the formation of a Government, I will insist on there being credible and funded policies in my five priority areas,” he says.
In specifics, he promises to challenge what he describes as the 'shameful age-related discriminatory practices' currently blighting pension entitlements for retirees. He is demanding reduced transport fares to be extended as far as Portarlington, where he lives. He also has strong opinions on the state of the agriculture sector, 'as a farmer's son, I know them'; on providing adequate supports for transitioning Bord na Mona workers; and on the childcare costs which are 'seriously impacting couples with children'.
Dr Berry cites his 25 years with a former career home base as a soldier in the Curragh as providing him with a 'unique' knowledge 'as a father and a doctor' to everybody in the constituency, of any background.
Having lived in Portarlington for 16 years, he says he is acutely aware of the need for representation for the 12,000 people in the Laois/Offaly area who are this time included in Kildare South. “It is critical that they are empowered by locally based Dail representation.”
On housing, he says it needs to be treated as a national emergency. On adaptation to climate change he wants incentivisation to home insulation and transition to electric private cars as well as more, and less expensive, public transport.
New schools for Portarlington and Monasterevin, better supports for education from pre-school to third level, and better special education resources underpin his education platform.
Finally, his own defence forces background gives him a very direct knowledge of the pressures facing military personnel and their families. He promises to ensure the end of the ‘illegal' practice of under minimum wage payments for weekend and night duty, the 'dilapidated' state of the Curragh, and the 'exploitation' of military personnel who are not allowed to strike. “Soldiers, sailors and aircrew will be rewarded rather than punished for their commitment to their country.”
(This article was derived from the candidate’s speech on his launch event.)
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