News

Social Democrats representatives in Co Louth will deliver water to households in the Drogheda area this week in a bid to help with the supply crisis in the town. The party members have put out a social media appeal asking people to contact them if they know of any elderly, sick or vulnerable residents who […]

The high costs of sending children to school need to be lifted so that parents do not have to use money earmarked for household bills, the Social Democrats said today. Party co-leader Róisín Shortall TD was commenting on a survey published today which found that 72 per cent of parents feel the back to school […]

Aengus Ó Maoláin, Social Democrats representative for Castleknock and Blanchardstown, has called on Fingal County Council to take on responsibility for recycling used car tyres for a trial period at its depot in Coolmine as one possible step to address the scourge of illegal dumping in Dublin 15. Hundreds of fish were killed today due […]

The mixing of private incentive and public interest at the heart of our health system creates an ungovernable twilight zone, Róisín Shortall TD will tell the MacGill Summer School tonight. Deputy Shortall chaired the cross-party Committee on the Future of Healthcare which recently produced a 10-year blueprint for reform of the health service, called Sláintecare […]

The Government’s climate change plan requires massive capital spending which is not available because it refuses to challenge EU spending rules, according to Róisín Shortall TD. The co-leader of the Social Democrats said the National Mitigation Plan published today was an exercise in wishful thinking, as the government is not in a position to invest […]

Catherine Murphy TD has welcomed the hard-hitting PAC report into financial practices at Templemore Garda training and said the report does “not pull any punches.” Speaking at the launch of the report, Deputy Murphy said that when she had first raised the issue with the then Minister for Justice Frances Fitzgerald it had been dismissed […]

Today’s Social Welfare, Pensions and Civil Registration Bill is more noteworthy for its omissions rather than its provisions, according to Róisín Shortall TD. Deputy Shortall said: “T.D.s were given the clear understanding in early drafts of the Bill in May that it would deal with some of the enormous insecurity affecting defined benefit schemes. As […]

The government is failing thousands of tenants facing spiralling costs by refusing to act to cut stamp duty on rents above €2,500 a month, Social Democrats TD Catherine Murphy said today. Deputy Murphy said figures published today show that some 55 per cent of three-bedroom Dublin city homes currently up for rent through online property […]

The fact that investors are currently paying the Irish State to lend it money highlights just how ridiculous our economic management has become, Social Democrats TD Róisín Shortall said today. The party’s co-leader was commenting on reports that Ireland raised €750m on the bond markets this morning, selling five-year bonds at a negative interest rate […]

A critical HSE audit into financial practices at the National Maternity Hospital highlights everything that is wrong with our public-private healthcare model, according to Social Democrats TD Róisín Shortall. Deputy Shortall was commenting on a HSE audit which found that the publicly-funded National Maternity Hospital in Holles Street subsidised the cash flow of a semi-private […]