My name is Peter Fitzpatrick. I live in Kingswood Heights, Tallaght and am married to Lorna Shortall. Together, we are very lucky to have two children. 


I am passionate about Housing, Education and in particular, Healthcare. I fundamentally believe in a Universal Healthcare model where care is provided based on medical need, regardless of means. I believe that access to healthcare should be a fundamental right, and that it is beyond time to enshrine that right in the Constitution. I put myself forward as a first-time Independent Candidate in the 2016 General Election, campaigning for, amongst many other things, a National Health Strategy, and am hugely grateful to the people of Dublin South West for lending 4916 votes to my name.


I hope to be in a position to run again.


For work, I am Head of Strategy and Communications at The Iveagh Trust, a leading housing charity and the oldest provider of social housing in Ireland.


I am also a Non-Executive Director of the Adelaide Health Foundation. I have advocated for patients over many years in a voluntary capacity and established a major national health advocacy campaign in 2014 – Our Children’s Health, together with my brother-in-law. Motivated by personal circumstances, the campaign set out to realise an amendment to the 1970 Health Act that would automatically and legally entitle all children with a serious illness or congenital condition in Ireland to free healthcare via the medical card. The three-year campaign respectfully took the issue to the heart of Government, built a coalition with other health advocacy groups and ultimately secured the specific amendment that was proposed and sought, benefitting over 33,000 disabled children and their families.


Stemming from the work of the Our Children’s Health Campaign, I was appointed to a Clinical Advisory Group within the Health Service Executive. The Minister for Health has convened the group on two occasions — and tasked it with reviewing the guidelines around eligibility for medical services via the medical card, and more recently, reviewing the eligibility criteria for those with a terminal illness in 2020.