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Government need to put in place supports for society and the economy Social Democrats Co-Leaders Catherine Murphy and Róisín Shortall wrote to the Taoiseach this afternoon with 9 points which they said needed to be “urgently considered” with the aim of supporting society and the economy, and restoring hope among people. Commenting, Róisín Shortall TD […]

Social Democrats councillor for the Rush Lusk ward, Paul Mulville, has called on the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage to allow homeowners suffering the effects of coastal erosion the chance to give personal testimony to a Government taskforce on the issue. Cllr Mulville said: “Minister Darragh O’Brien has assembled the National Coastal Change […]

The Social Democrats have called on the Minister for Education to provide clarity and certainty to the thousands of affected students who had their Leaving Certificate results downgraded due to errors identified in the predicted grades marking system. Gary Gannon TD, the party’s spokesperson on Education, said: “Following yesterday’s revelations that around 6,500 students received […]

Speaking in the Dáil today, Jennifer Whitmore TD, the Social Democrats spokesperson for Children, called on the Government to commit to funding and implementing the National Breastfeeding Action Plan. Deputy Whitmore said: “Today marks the start of National Breastfeeding Week so I felt it was a good time to remind the Government of Ireland’s poor […]

During today’s Dáil statements on the Winter Plan, Róisín Shortall TD, co-leader of the Social Democrats, raised the glaring omission of mental health and disability services from the plan. Deputy Shortall said: “Disgracefully, the Winter Plan has conspicuously omitted any provision for mental health or disability services over the coming months. “Mental health services were […]

Holly Cairns TD, Social Democrats spokesperson for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, has expressed her frustration at the Government for pushing through forestry legislation without proper scrutiny and not accepting amendments. Holly said: “Last night, the Forestry (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2020 was rushed through the Dáil. The whole process has been incredibly frustrating and it […]

The Government has squandered a valuable opportunity to eliminate childhood poverty in Ireland by voting down a Social Democrats’ Private Members’ Motion tonight, according to Jennifer Whitmore TD, the party’s spokesperson for Children. Deputy Whitmore said: “The Government’s counter motion which was passed this evening is essentially a charter for guaranteeing that a certain number […]

Catherine Murphy TD, co-leader of the Social Democrats, has welcomed the establishment of a Commission on the Future of the Media but called for its terms of reference to be widened to include defamation law reform and the impact of social media on advertising revenues in the sector. Deputy Murphy said: “This commission is welcome […]

The Government’s approach to the calculated grades system has been marked by a lack of transparency and last-minute decisions which has only added to the uncertainty and stress of students this year. That’s according to Holly Cairns TD, Social Democrats Spokesperson for Further and Higher Education. Holly said: “The Minister has informed us today that […]

Gary Gannon TD, the Social Democrats spokesperson for Education, has demanded an explanation as to why the Government took a full week to confirm that two errors had been identified in the Leaving Certificate predicted grades marking system. Deputy Gannon said: “Today’s scandalous development has needlessly added to the stress levels of this year’s Leaving […]