Ireland has been rocked by a series of scandals in the police. Many of the supposed ‘independent’ judges have been political appointees or have served their time actively supporting right-wing parties.

People Before Profit will seek to end the class bias in the current justice system.

• Create locally-elected bodies to oversee An Garda, including powers of inspection. The Gardaí cannot be a law unto themselves. There must be local, democratic oversight and an elected national police authority to have rights of inquiry into all matters, bar ongoing investigations.

• End the practice whereby up to one third of judges are political appointees. There is a tight class system whereby aspiring lawyers and barristers join Fine Gael, Fianna Fáil and the Labour Party to gain prestigious office.

• End the practice of the state paying out €500 million a year to private law firms. Develop the state’s own legal service.

• Cut the costs of law for the ordinary citizen. Introduce legislation to give the public direct access to barristers.

• Cut the cost of house sales by establishing directly-employed licensed conveyancers in the public sector.

• Abolish the monopoly that the Law Society and the King’s Inn have on training barristers and solicitors. License third-level institutions to engage in training programmes.

• Protect whistle-blowers in the Gardaí and legal system by criminalising all attempts to ostracise them.

• End the practice whereby access to the higher courts is determined by wealth.

• Require judges to provide written explanations for judgements in lower courts where there are conflicts of evidence.

• Give voting rights to migrants living and working in Ireland.