The chairwoman of the Irish Wheelchair Association, Ms Molly Buckley, will run as an independent candidate in the general election for Laois-Offaly, which she says "can become a pivotal constituency in the balance of power following the election".
She is one of eight independent candidates from across the State, calling themselves the Independent Health Alliance, who this week declared their intention to contest the election on health issues.
An independent member of Tullamore Town Council and a member of Offaly County Council, Ms Buckley said she is also campaigning for more jobs in the area and more rights for the elderly, carers, and people with disabilities.
The Independent Health Alliance is campaigning for the waiting lists to be eliminated within three years.
There is great competition in the five-seat constituency. Also in the running will be the recently declared PD candidate Mr Tom Parlon and sitting Fianna Fáil TDs Brian Cowen, John Moloney and Seán Fleming. Sitting Fine Gael TD Charles Flanagan will compete, and Olwyn Enright, a daughter of outgoing Fine Gael TD Tom Enright, has also declared her candidacy.
An opinion poll, conducted by IMS for the Irish Independent and RTÉ's Prime Time, has given Ms Buckley a 5 per cent share of the first-preference vote.
Ms Buckley, a public health nurse, said she has been working in the region for 20 years. But she says she is "outraged by the sad fact that my home constituency is one of the poorest in the State".
And this, as her promotional literature says, is despite 30 years of being served by politicians who were ministers for environment, finance, health and foreign affairs.
A buoyant local economy is vital for improving services in the region, she said, but points out that Laois has the lowest disposable income per capita in the State. Offaly had the second lowest, she said, according to 1999 figures from the Central Statistics Office.
Last year she became chairwoman of the Irish Wheelchair Association. "I am seeing all the time people with disabilities who are having their civil rights infringed, in terms of income, housing, and employment".
The Independent Health Alliance - which says it wants to campaign for people at national level rather than for "a bit of tarmacadam in Lixnaw" - is the first time all disability groups have come together, including those for physical, sensory, and learning disabilities, says Ms Buckley.
She says she has taken part in initiatives to improve the situation in the region for people with disabilities.
Vitally, she says, these have been based on asking what exactly people wanted.
Other issues on which she will campaign are services for young people with autism and the cost of disability allowance.
Elderly people, furthermore, who cannot pay for their healthcare are "at a huge disadvantage", she says. Their income support is "abysmal", and she is campaigning for an increase in the subvention for elderly people. Although many elderly people receive treatment, she says, there is little attention paid to follow-up support.
As chairwoman for the rights of the elderly committee, a local group that campaigns for services for older people, she successfully lobbied to stop a nursing home in Tullamore from closing.
It was sold to a private operator and the residents were allowed stay.
The health service has, she says, "too many chiefs and not enough Indians. There are many new managers, new project managers, but no increase in the number of staff on the ground", who, she said, face an increasing workload.
Domestic violence is another issue for her campaign. She says there is not enough support for people who need to leave their homes due to violence.
For the midlands, she says, there is one refuge in Athlone, which has four family units and is, she said, "operating on a shoestring budget".
Despite the strong and high profile competition in the constituency, Ms Buckley said she "wouldn't be running if she didn't think she had a good chance".