TWO Southside TDs are starring in a brand new documentary series.
In what has been billed as a first for Irish television, TV3’s
‘Dáil on the Dole’ series will see four TDs spending time with their social welfare dependent constituents as they try to get a better understanding of their day-to-day lives.
Each week, one of four TDs are paired up with people in their constituency who are dependent on social welfare payments.
The four TDs involved include Catherine Byrne of Fine Gael in Dublin South Central, Joanna Tuffy of Labour in Dublin Mid- West, John Halligan, an Independent TD in Waterford and Fianna Fail’s Willie O’Dea in Limerick City.
According to TV3, while many Irish people believe their elected representatives have no understanding of the issues that rule their everyday lives, and with TDs thinking they work more hours than anyone on the planet, Dáil on the Dole is a programme that gives both sides the chance to walk a mile in each other’s shoes.
“Across this insightful four-part series, we will see the powerless come into direct contact with those who have been given the power to make changes in society,
? a TV3 statement reads.
“Dáil on the Dole takes TDs out of the current affairs realm and into the real world.
?
In episode one, Fine Gael TD Catherine Byrne met Laura Spencer, a single mother with two young daughters, living in a not-fit-for-purpose flat in the inner city.
Laura is striving to make a better life for herself and a better future for her children while Catherine is from a community background.
She was looking forward to meeting Laura and her family, and hopefully changing some opinions along the way.
“It may give people another insight in to what they believe is a stereotype politician that we aren’t,
? Deputy Byrne said.
“We’re human beings. We’re mothers. We’re fathers. We have children. We have lives that we weave in and out of when we’re not doing our public duty.
“Anything new is worth doing I believe, and the process will help people to understand that public representatives on the ground do their work and above all connect with the people.
?
In the third episode, airing on Monday, May 4 Labour TD Joanna Tuffy meets local Lucan resident Mandy Boggans, whose lone parent payment is due to be cut this July.
Mandy works part-time, loves her job and wants to hold onto it at all costs but is afraid that the cuts will mean she would be better off unemployed.
Mandy believes that while she’s trying to improve the situation for herself and her family the Government keeps
“dragging her back
?.
In her time spent with Mandy, Joanna gets an insight into the world of working lone parent families and the struggles they face.
Joanna meets some of Mandy’s neighbours who cannot sleep in their own beds due to damp and who have been advocating for years for community services that should have been there from the outset. Left alone to sort out these problems, the local residents ask Joanna to get involved and be a voice for the community.