The Government’s Broken Manifesto Promises
Words: Izzy Copestake
As the general election approaches, party manifestos are coming under intense scrutiny, and promises are being made at all ends of the political spectrum to win voters over. But how much of these pledges should be taken at face value? Reviewing past manifestos is essential for holding the governing parties accountable to their 2020 promises. It allows voters to assess whether the parties have delivered on their commitments or fallen short. This process promotes transparency, holds power to account, and helps distinguish between realistic pledges and empty rhetoric.
Fine Gael, Fianna Fáil, and The Greens have had four years to deliver their 2020 promises and are using their platform to shout about their achievements in the run-up to the election. But as the governing parties set out new pledges to win over voters again, it’s worth considering which of their 2020 promises have been ignored or broken over the past four years. We analysed 8 major promises across healthcare, housing and climate, broken by the governing parties.
Healthcare
Healthcare is one of the most pressing issues impacting Ireland right now and is always a key battleground in the lead up to election day. Both Fine Gael‘s and Fianna Fáil‘s 2020 manifestos pledged improvements, with Fine Gael working towards a “Reform Of Our Healthcare Service” and Fianna Fáil promising a “healthcare system for all”. These statements are vague and abstract, so we looked at the aspects of the manifesto that we could measure. While the government did deliver on a number of their promises, the abolition of in-patient hospital fees for children under 16 and extension of medical cards to people with a terminal illness fulfilled aspects of Fine Gael’s manifesto, and The Patient Safety Act 2023 fulfilled a pledge in Fianna Fáil’s manifesto, there was a significant bout of unaddressed and broken promises:
In 2020, Fianna Fáil promised “Reduced Emergency Department waiting times”
FACT CHECK: Since 2020, Ireland has experienced record wait times in emergency departments. In 2022, average wait times were the worst on record, with some waiting over 13 hours to be seen. HSE data released this year revealed that nearly 1 in 10 people over the age of 75 were waiting over 24 hours in emergency departments last year.
In 2020, Fine Gael promised they would be “Extending free GP care to all children under 18”
FACT CHECK: At present, GP care is only free for children under 8. This policy is being re-promised in Fine Gael’s 2024 manifesto.
In 2020, Fine Gael promised: “We will open the new National Children’s Hospital in 2023”
FACT CHECK: The government has also recently revealed that it will miss yet another deadline in opening the National Children’s Hospital, and the year 2026 has been given as a likely opening date. The cost of the controversial project stands at €2.2 billion, €1.55 billion more than Fine Gael initially told the Irish public it would cost.
In 2020, Fianna Fáil promised: “Put in place an Office for Budget Responsibility in the Department of Health to oversee health spending and ensure reliable forecasts.”
FACT CHECK: Office for Budget Responsibility in the Department of Health to oversee spending has not been put in place.
Housing
According to a Eurobarometer poll which surveyed over 26,300 adults across the 27 EU member states, including over 1,000 in the Republic of Ireland, housing is a key issue for Irish voters. 44% of Irish voters surveyed cited housing as a key voting issue compared to just 10% of all EU voters. A Savills report released this summer reveals that Ireland’s housing crisis is ‘on a different level’ to other countries around the world, due to the population growing 4x faster than new homes are being delivered.
The government did deliver on some of their housing promises, such as retaining and funding the Help To buy scheme which were key aspects of both Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil’s 2020 manifestos. However, this scheme has been critiqued by experts continuously since 2017. The Department of Finance’s review of the scheme concluded that it “has socially regressive impacts” due to the way it contributes to inflation and fails to address issues of housing shortage and affordability. The government also kept their promise of keeping rent caps in place, but as the housing crisis spirals out of control they’ve massively underdelivered on significant promises:
In 2020, Fine Gael promised to: “Put affordability at the heart of the housing system”
FACT CHECK: House prices have increased 37% in price since 2020, according to the latest data from daft.ie.
In 2020, Fianna Fáil committed to “Ending the rip off rental market.”
The Deloitte Property Index 2023 named Dublin as the most expensive city to rent in Europe.
In 2020, Fine Gael promised to: “Tackle Homelessness” , Fianna Fáil promised to “Set up a Homelessness Prevention Unit with the Department of Housing to develop and support effective prevention actions.”
FACT CHECK: No Homelessness Prevention Unit was set up. Ireland at present has record levels of homelessness with 14,760 people, including 4,561 children, experiencing homelessness.
Climate
Climate has been an issue rising in importance for Irish voters over the past 15 years. The Green’s historic coalition with Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil in 2020 brought with it an era of hope for environmentalists and voters with climate concerns. Although the Greens had their most successful election to date in 2020, with 12 TDs elected to the Dail, they were heavily outnumbered by Fianna Fáiland Fine Gael TDs in government, which limits their influence in decision making.
Saying this, the Greens fulfilled a number of their 2020 manifesto commitments while in government, notably, banning fur farming and delivering €360m annually for cycling and walking infrastructure. They also brought in a Climate Act which made it legally-binding for Government to halve emissions by 2030. However, a recent report from the European Commission has revealed that Ireland will not meet this target. Despite the Green’s achievements while in office, they have broken a significant promise:
In 2020, the Green party promised to: “End the issuing of oil and gas exploration and extraction licenses and stand firmly against the importation of fracked gas from other territories.”
FACT CHECK: Not a single TD from the Greens voted against the Planning and Development Bill 2023, which included plans to build the Shannon Liquified Natural Gas (LNG) project. The project, which has been stalled in legal proceedings over the past few years but is now going ahead, plans for the construction of one of the biggest fracked gas terminals in Europe. The terminal is expected to cost €500 million.
