'Being afraid of what happened to Labour or Greens is cop out for smaller parties', TD says

James Cox

Being "afraid of what happened to Labour or the Greens" in government is a "cop out" for smaller parties, according to a newly-elected Independent Ireland TD.

Ken O'Flynn, from Cork North-Central, is the party's newest TD, joining Michael Collins, Michael Fitzmaurice and Richard O'Donoghue.

In an interview with BreakingNews.ie, Mr O'Flynn said: "We're not stupid enough to think we'll get everything. We know there has to be compromise. We're not afraid of going into government.

"The Greens lost their seats because of their policies, Labour did the same because of their water charge policies and not listening to the people. I think it's a very cynical view to take that if you're the junior partner you always get screwed.

"The prime example of that is the Progressive Democrats, who went into government with Fianna Fáil twice and came back with more seats because they were a watchdog, and they promoted themselves as a watchdog.

"We'd like to be a similar watchdog for government overspend, holding people to account for the bike sheds and security huts, all that stuff."

He added: "One of the things we're very interested in is a department of efficiency, similar to what Mr Trump is doing with Elon Musk, having effiency and oversight.

"There is already a commission there with very little power which doesn't seem to have the wherewithal  of fulfilling that. The Public Accounts Committee needs to have their power expanded for local authorities, county councils and city councils."

The EU-Mercosur trade deal has been heavily criticised by Independent Ireland, led by the party's MEP Ciaran Mullooly.

Energy costs must be addressed in a long-term, meaningful way.Advertisement

Mr O'Flynn said protecting farming and fisheries is a priority for his party, along with the restoration of the 9 per cent VAT rate for the hospitality industry (excluding hotel accommodation) and more support for small businesses.

"We've had 600 cafes and restaurants close this year and those figures have probably gone up this month. They'd be two big issues, to ensure the survival of small to medium size businesses.

"Bringing down energy costs is another big one, we're the only country in Europe that decided to open up the energy business and de-regulate it with the view of energy costs going down.

"The ESB has made huge profit but we have the second-most expensive elecriticty in Europe.

"The cost of living is a huge problem. Delivering any product is more expensive.

"There must be a review of some of the green carbon taxes out there, I'm not saying all of the green policies were bad, the retro-fitting has had a very positive effect, but I think we have to be sensible about our fuel prices and the cost of living and doing business.

"Energy costs must be addressed in a long-term, meaningful way."

Immigration

Independent Ireland has been critical of the Government's immigration policy, but Mr O'Flynn said Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael's recent changes in combatting illegal immigration are more in line with their policy.

He also claimed some of their policies were "lifted and transcribed in a slightly different way".

"I'm more encouraged in the last few months by Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil, a number of our policy documents were lifted and transcribed in a different way, as if it was put into AI to write from their perspective.

"Things we were being mocked for 12 months ago, around immigration policy. A lot of it has fallen into the Fine Gael manifesto, Aontú and Fianna Fáil as well."

Mr O'Flynn said more needs to be done to support working people.

USC exemption

One proposal he suggested is a one-month USC exemption for all workers in November.

"It's very tough if you're relying on social welfare, but everyone on social welfare has received a bonus in some shape or form, but there doesn't seem to be any bonus for workers. We'd like to see a costing and the possibility of releasing the USC charge for one month off the salary of workers.

"Strategically for the month of November, with Black Friday and Cyber Monday, we believe a lot of that money would go back into the economy and circulate very quickly.

"It would be an acknowledgement to those who are working, those Leo Varadkar referred to as 'the person who gets up in the morning', who are often forgotten about and often say at the door 'I'm paying a mortgage, doing everything right, working every day and feeling like I have no reward'.

"Tax on overtime is another thing we need to look at, I'm hearing continuously people saying it's not worth doing overtime.

"These elephants in the room are red lines for us. It's about protecting the small business, giving a little bit back to the working people, protecting farming and fisheries, and the 9 per cent VAT."

When asked if potential coalition partners would see Independent Ireland as a stable party, as it's made up of a group of Independents, Mr O'Flynn argued "we're more stable than other parties if anything".

"I think we're more stable. We're not having internal or external arguments, we're not running to the media saying 'Ken O'Flynn wants to do this, Michael Collins wants to do that, this fella is a lunatic', all this stuff that is going on wholesale at the moment.

"In 12 months since we came together, we have elected 24 councillors, one MEP, and we have brought back an additional TD. We were close to doubling our numbers but pipped at the post, and that's democracy."

I'm not going to lose my seat because people say 'he never tried', for me that's the greatest sin.

With outreach from Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael likely to come soon, Mr O'Flynn said his party would stick to their key issues but would be open to compromises and "not afraid of being in government".

"The high moral ground can be a very lonely place for a lot of politicians, and you can occupy that for all your life, but my experience in life through business is I don't have to like everyone I do business with.

"If you lose your seat it's because your policies didn't work, I'm not going to lose my seat because people say 'he never tried', for me that's the greatest sin. We put our name forward to make an effective change, to change legislation, to fix things and address a problem coming down the line, that's what you're there for.

"This cop out of not going in because 'we're afraid of what happened to Labour and the Greens', then you've been a coward in the fight. There is also a practicality with us in that we realise you can't be accommodated on everything. There are things we want to do and achieve."