McGrath is hoping to win the seat held until recently by his brother Michael, the former finance minister who was appointed as Ireland's European Commissioner last month. He has been a county councillor for 17 years and got the highest first-preference vote of any candidate in the local elections earlier this year.

I have been a County Councilor for 17 years and I believe this experience will give a great grounding to effectively fulfil the role of a TD. A TD has a greater ability to progress key issues.

The Housing and Accommodation shortage. We need to ramp up the supply of properties, both new builds and refurbished/repurposed buildings. We also need to drastically increase the supply of Affordable and Cost Rental housing.

The Housing and Accommodation issue. As a Councillor for so long, I have first hand experience of hundreds of individual cases. I can clearly see where improvements are needed.