Irish Rail says no funding for new trains up to 2021

Social Democrats TD Catherine Murphy has received a reply from Irish Rail stating that they have not been provided with funding for any new trains or carriages for 2018, 2019 or 2020. The response came on foot of a series of questions that Deputy Murphy has posed to the Minister for Transport, the National Transport […]

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Government must act on Fire Safety Report

The government must act urgently to implement the safety recommendations of an Oireachtas Housing Committee report due to be published today, Dublin Bay North Social Democrats’ councillor and spokesperson on Fire Safety and Building Standards Cian O’Callaghan has said. Councillor O’Callaghan said: “The recommendations of a report by the Oireachtas Housing Committee stating that there […]

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Wheelchair accessible taxi numbers vary significantly across counties

Social Democrats TD Catherine Murphy has called on the Minister for Transport to review the funding scheme for Wheelchair Accessible Taxis so as to ensure that every area has a sufficient allocation of accessible vehicles to meet demand. Research undertaken by Deputy Murphy shows that allocation of wheelchair accessible taxis across Counties is very unequal […]

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Social Democrats welcome cross-party support for renters’ rights Bill

Social Democrats co-leader Róisín Shortall TD today introduces to the Dáil a Bill to give renters a minimum of 90 days’ notice to quit a property and to give incoming tenants access to the amount of rent paid by their predecessors. The party welcomes the backing of opposition parties Fianna Fáil, Sinn Féin, Labour and […]

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Minister for Justice must move on GSOC’s reform plan

The Social Democrats have voiced strong support for today’s call by the Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission for a radical overhaul of the legislation governing its operations to make the system of garda complaints and oversight fairer, more transparent and more efficient. Party co-leader Róisín Shortall TD called on the Minister for Justice to move swiftly […]

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Housing Minister’s bravado has no basis in fact

Social Democrats Co-Leader Catherine Murphy has said it is completely unacceptable that the Minister for Housing, Eoghan Murphy, is unable to provide accurate figures regarding the amount of housing units built last year. She said that despite this lack of knowledge the Minister was irresponsibly making unfounded claims about Government exceeding its targets. Catherine Murphy […]

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Free influenza vaccines should be offered to school children

The influenza vaccine should be offered for free to all school children to arrest the spread of the virus, the Social Democrats spokesperson on Children, Jennifer Whitmore said today. Greystones Councillor Whitmore was commenting after the HSE today released its weekly Influenza Surveillance Report which showed a 130 per cent increase in the number of […]

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Mulville highlights need to ensure protection of Rogerstown Estuary

Paul Mulville, Social Democrats councillor for the Swords local electoral area, has highlighted the need for Rogerstown Estuary to be protected. Cllr. Mulville stated, “The 2010 – 2015 Environmental Protection Agency Water Quality in Ireland report published last August, highlighted issues at Rogerstown Estuary, which is a Natura 2000 International site, being both a Special […]

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Record levels of hospital overcrowding predictable

Social Democrats co-leader Róisín Shortall TD has described today’s record high levels of hospital overcrowding as disgraceful, predictable and avoidable. Deputy Shortall was commenting on figures from the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation which show that the number of people on trolleys and wards awaiting hospital beds has risen to a new high of 677. […]

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Galway Councils must learn from major floods

After a night of distributing and stacking donated sandbags to Galway residents and businesses, Social Democrats candidate Niall Ó Tuathail, says Galway Councils were “simply not good enough” and “need to learn from this for future floods”. Following damaging Tuesday evening floods, there were worries of further flooding during the high tide at 5.30a.m. on […]

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