News

Farmers and rural communities must not be led off a cliff by a government that refuses to plan for contingencies Government needs a ‘plan B’ for farmers if their attempts to secure an extension of the nitrates derogation fail, according to Social Democrats Agriculture spokesperson Jennifer Whitmore. “There has been confirmation today that it will […]

A lack of adequate planning for the needs of our education system has led to 1,847 teaching posts remaining unfilled ahead of the new academic year, according to Social Democrats education spokesperson Jen Cummins. Deputy Cummins said: “The teacher shortage crisis is symptomatic of a lack of forward planning across government departments – it is […]

The latest consumer watchdog probe into grocery prices must have teeth, according to Social Democrats TD Jennifer Whitmore. Speaking ahead of the party’s motion on supermarket transparency this Wednesday, Deputy Whitmore said: “The Competition and Consumer Protection Commission has re-opened a probe into grocery prices, but the government has failed to give it requisite powers […]

What we have is a back-to-the-future housing minister, repeating the mistakes of the past, who is doomed to fail The Housing Minister’s big idea to increase housing supply is to dust off housing policies implemented by his predecessors that have demonstrably failed, according to Social Democrats housing spokesperson Rory Hearne. “Today the Minister has announced […]

With households continuing to struggle with the cost-of-living crisis, the Social Democrats will bring a motion before the Dáil next week calling for full transparency on profits being generated by supermarkets. Jennifer Whitmore TD, who will introduce the motion on Wednesday, July 9, said: “Families and individuals across the country are finding it extremely difficult […]

It is now all but inevitable that Ireland will face billions in EU fines for not meeting its legally binding emissions reduction targets by 2030, according to Social Democrats TD Jennifer Whitmore. Deputy Whitmore, who is the party’s climate spokesperson, said: “The latest assessment by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) must not be ignored. It […]

The HSE’s proposal to invest €64m developing a 50-bed residential mental health service on the grounds of St. Stephen’s Hospital, Glanmire, is an attempt to move back to the dark ages of service provision, according to Social Democrats mental health spokesperson Liam Quaide. Deputy Quaide said: “It is entirely at odds with the progressive trend […]

Rubberstamping this increase without proper scrutiny amounts to a dereliction of duty from government, according to Social Democrats acting leader Cian O’Callaghan. Deputy O’Callaghan, who’s the party’s finance spokesperson, said: “The report from the National Claims Information Database (NCID), released by the Central Bank, indicates that the cost of motor claims increased by 23% during […]

The government cannot continue to take a head in the sand approach to high levels of nitrogen and phosphorous in our rivers, according to Social Democrats TD Jennifer Whitmore. Deputy Whitmore, who is the party’s environment spokesperson, was responding to the latest water quality monitoring report from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). She said: “The […]

The government’s intention to examine a two-track approach to college fee reductions is fundamentally flawed and fails to honour previous promises made to students, according to Social Democrats TD Jen Cummins. Deputy Cummins, who is the party’s spokesperson on further and higher education, said: “Any proposal to offer partial relief to some students while maintaining […]