Kevin Humphreys (Dublin South East, Labour)

Deputy Murphy Catherine referred to the cost of running in an election. The first time I ran for political office in 1999, I was amazed at the amount of money opposition candidates had to spend, with their fancy offices and colour leaflets, amounting to an enormous outlay on what was basically a local election. I grew up in the inner city and went to the local primary school and vocational school. None of my friends can open up a cheque book and hand over €100 or €150. The vast majority of them are currently unemployed for various reasons. Access for people from my community is extremely restricted because of the financial barrier that exists. We did not go to private schools and we have no friends in the Law Library. If we take time off work we will lose the salaries on which our spouses and children depend.

Entering politics was a difficult decision for me to take and one for which my family suffered. For the first election in which I stood my father gave me money from his pension. He was a staunch Fianna Fáil supporter; the first time he voted for the Labour Party was when I stood for election. Loyalty to Fianna Fáil was ingrained in the family.

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