Healthcare, rural services, taxes and Irish Water have dominated the first of Clare FM's live election debates.
Pat Breen, Richard Cahill, Clare Colleran Molloy, Ian Lynch and Noeleen Moran debated the issues as the race begins ahead of polling day on February 26th.
With just over three weeks to go to polling day, fourteen candidates have stepped forward to run in the Clare Constituency.
Five of them took part in the first of Clare FM's live election debates on today's edition of Morning Focus – the remaining runners will have their say over the coming weeks.
Today's debate began with a focus on healthcare, which was recently identified as THE key issue facing people here in an online poll conducted by Clare FM.
Part of the discussion focused on the local ambulance service, which was criticised by some including Independent candidate Ian Lynch
He feels lives are being lost because of the problems here, and thinks communities need to be empowered by life-saving training.
Fianna Fáil candidate Clare Colleran Molloy agrees that health is says the number one issue on the doorsteps.
On overcrowding, the Ennis-area Councillor says a cross-party task force needs to be established to determine if the HSE needs to be completely unraveled.
But Sixmilebridge Independent Richard Cahill insists that successive Government's have failed to take the overcrowding crisis.
He says the region's Centre of Excellence is failing to live up to that tile.
