News

The quiet phasing-out of early intervention classes for autistic children is being presented by Government as inclusion, when in reality it amounts to an essential provision being scaled back to meet shortages elsewhere, according to Social Democrats disability spokesperson Liam Quaide. Deputy Quaide said: “I received a parliamentary reply which shows that the Department of […]

The Government must take political responsibility and oversight of Uisce Éireann following more unplanned outages throughout the country, according to Social Democrats TD Aidan Farrelly. Deputy Farrelly, who sits on the Oireachtas Public Accounts Committee (PAC), said: “Outages in Kildare, Dublin, Cork, Tipperary and Wexford following a dry spell in recent days came only weeks […]

The considerable potential of solar panels to reduce Ireland’s reliance on fossil fuels – and bring down energy bills for households and businesses – continues to be a blind spot for this Government, according to Social Democrats TD Jennifer Whitmore. Deputy Whitmore, who is the party’s spokesperson on energy, said: “Simon Harris revealed over the […]

It has never been clearer that Government housing policies are the leading contributor to evictions and homelessness, according to Social Democrats housing spokesperson Rory Hearne. Deputy Hearne said: “Today’s figures show there were a record 17,517 people living in homeless emergency accommodation at the end of March. Shockingly, 5,571 of them are children, another devastating […]

Social Democrats TD Jen Cummins has called on the Department of Education and the National Council for Special Education (NCSE) to provide urgent clarity and transparency on the true number of children in need of an appropriate school place. Deputy Cummins, who is the party’s education spokesperson, said: “It is deeply concerning that, six months […]

Allowing 3,000 US troops to pass through Shannon Airport last month radically undermines our country’s neutrality, according to Social Democrats foreign affairs spokesperson Patricia Stephenson. Senator Stephenson said: “There is no other reason for the increase of US military overflights and troops through Shannon Airport than Donald Trump’s war in the Middle East. “If we […]

It is completely unacceptable that poverty levels and enforced deprivation rates are rising for pensioners at a time when the Government has billions at its disposal, according to Social Democrats finance spokesperson Cian O’Callaghan. Deputy O’Callaghan said: “Figures released by the Central Statistics Office (CSO) show that the consistent poverty rate for those aged 65 […]

The Government will oversee an even greater spike in homelessness if it does not immediately introduce a no-fault eviction ban, according to Social Democrats housing spokesperson Rory Hearne. Deputy Hearne said: “Evictions in the final quarter of 2025 were up 41% on the same period the year before, while over 20,000 notices to quit were […]

The people of Dublin’s southwest inner city are being failed on multiple fronts by the Government, according to local Social Democrats TD Jen Cummins. Deputy Cummins, who represents Dublin South Central, said: “A new report by TCD economist Barra Roantree has revealed the depths of disadvantage in Dublin’s southwest inner city. On every metric, the residents […]

The Social Democrats have a very real opportunity to build on recent electoral successes in next month’s Dublin Central and Galway West by-elections, according to party leader Holly Cairns. Deputy Cairns made her comments after the writs for the by-elections were moved last night, with polling day confirmed for Friday, May 22. She said: “I […]