Sinn Féin's presidential candidate, Liadh Ní Riada, has said the presidential salary should be cut in half.
Speaking at her official campaign launch, Ms Ní Riada also said "it is not acceptable that hundreds of thousands of euros of expenses are unvouched."
Ms Ní Riada said that if elected she would only serve one term in office, saying "one term is enough."
Flanked by her party leader, Mary Lou McDonald, Ms Ní Riada also accused Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael and Labour of not wanting a Presidential Election, but said Sinn Féin "said no."
Earlier, she said recent developments indicate Ireland needs a new direction and as president she would like to lead the discussion on what that new direction should be.
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Speaking on RTÉ’s Six One news, Ms Ní Riada said over the last week the vindication of Sergeant Maurice McCabe, an appalling budget in terms of housing and the level of homelessness and breaches of ethics where big business is cosying up to senior politicians, all show that a change of direction is necessary.
The interview was the first in a series of interviews with the presidential candidates on RTÉ’s Six One news.
Ms Ní Riada said that she believes, within their remit, a president has a duty to stand up for the ordinary people of Ireland and can do this quite effectively when they address the houses of the Oireachtas and remind them that as legislators, they have a duty.
Ms Ní Riada said this would show that the president is not part of a cosy consensus.
She said this had been done quite effectively by the former presidents Mary McAleese and Mary Robinson who had pushed the boundaries when they were in office.
Liadh Ní Riada told her campaign launch the presidential salary should be halved, and that if elected she would only serve one term pic.twitter.com/oiEnvlNtIA
— RTÉ News (@rtenews) October 12, 2018
Ms Ní Riada said her campaign is about sending out the message that she would be a president for everybody, and not being exclusively a candidate for Sinn Fein.
She said she would not be a president who would look away from social injustice or poverty or social inequalities and she believes a president has the opportunity to address these issues.
The MEP for Ireland South said she also believes that the next conversation needs to be about a united Ireland.
Ms Ní Riada said she sees what is coming down the tracks from a European perspective and there is a need to have a discussion and the groundwork prepared for a united Ireland.
