News

Social Democrats co-leader Róisín Shortall TD today called on the Minister for Health to intervene to compel the HSE to release smear slides to women affected by the CervicalCheck controversy so they can be independently reviewed. “The roll-out of the National Broadband Plan is the next vital piece of communications infrastructure in this country and […]

Social Democrats co-leader Róisín Shortall TD today called on the Minister for Health to intervene to compel the HSE to release smear slides to women affected by the CervicalCheck controversy so they can be independently reviewed. “The effect of trapping long-term renters in high rents is that the mortgage rules are actually inflating the rental […]

Social Democrats’ Spokesperson on Children, Councillor Jennifer Whitmore, today backed calls for the Department of Education to step in to regulate and reduce the use of restraint and seclusion practices in our schools. “My gut feeling is that this could be a growing problem, as schools are being left to manage children with behavioural needs […]

Social Democrats Spokesperson on Energy and Climate Change, Councillor Cian O’Callaghan, has said the onus on ending the use of non-recyclable plastics must be placed squarely at the door of producers and supermarkets pushing plastics on consumers. “Producers and retailers should lead the way and start phasing out now all packaging that can’t be recycled […]

The Social Democrats have welcomed today’s report by the Commission on the Future of Policing which recommends new external accountability and oversight structures and a shift to community policing. “We need to see buy-in from the highest level, both politically and among the senior ranks of the force, to get moving on these challenging reforms, […]

The Social Democrats today set out the party’s priorities for the new Dáil term, calling for a nationwide freeze on rents at current levels to stem the flow of low-and-middle income earners into homelessness. “The Government needs to intervene now to stop rents sky-rocketing any further. We have to end this exploitation of renters and […]

Commenting on this morning’s record figures from the National Treatment Purchase Fund showing 718,165 patients on hospital waiting lists, Social Democrats co-leader Róisín Shortall TD said the endless cycle of upwardly spiralling waiting lists is inexcusable. “The experience of daily suffering behind these waiting list numbers is appalling – the longer people wait for procedures, […]

Social Democrats Political Director and Consumer Affairs spokesperson Anne-Marie McNally has asked what planet Minister Eoghan Murphy lives on if he believes that €320,000 constitutes an affordable home. “It’s bad enough that Fine Gael propose to effectively give away vast chunks of state land to private developers, but then asking people to pay €320,000 for a […]

Social Democrats councillor Gary Gannon has welcomed tonight’s vote by Dublin City councillors to halt the sale of the last Magdalene Laundry in public ownership to the Toyoko Inn hotel chain. ““I’m delighted that my fellow councillors supported my motion to block the sale of the Magdalene Laundry site at Sean McDermott Street. This Laundry […]

The Social Democrats have described the government’s new Land Development Agency as an inadequate and unambitious response to the housing crisis. “There has been an urgent and obvious need for a development agency to coordinate the acquisition of land and the building of houses that are affordable to buy or rent. However, what’s being proposed […]