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Social Democrats TD Catherine Murphy has said there are legitimate concerns regarding how decisions relating to planning applications for solar farms are made. A recent reply from the Minister to a question posed by Deputy Murphy has confirmed that there are still no specific planning guidelines for solar farms. Deputy Murphy said that the number […]

Social Democrats TD Catherine Murphy has used a topical debate in the Dáil to ask the Minister for Communications Denis Naughten to recuse himself from any role in media regulation in Ireland based on the revelations by Simon Carswell and Mark Paul in today’s Irish Times which suggest that the Minister relayed information regarding the […]

Social Democrats TD Catherine Murphy has said she is dismayed at reports in today’s Irish Times that on the afternoon of the 11th of November 2016 Communications Minister Denis Naughten informed a PR Executive, working on behalf of Lesley Buckley and INM, that the proposed acquisition of Celtic Media would be referred to the Broadcasting Authority […]

The Social Democrats are today calling for the setting up of a Commission on the Future of the Media to ensure media independence and minimise the potential for the over-concentration of media ownership with any one individual or company. The party’s co-leader Catherine Murphy TD said: “The recent allegations of a significant data breach at […]

Social Democrats co-leader Catherine Murphy TD today called on the government to get to grips with the chronic shortage of affordable homes and ensure that state land is used to provide both social and affordable housing. Deputy Murphy made her comments as RTÉ reported that a government scheme to incentivise the construction of affordable homes […]

Social Democrats TD Catherine Murphy has today written to the Data Protection Commissioner on foot of a parliamentary reply she received from the Department of Finance as to the circumstances surrounding the circulation of internal IBRC documents by a former IBRC executive. Deputy Murphy had asked the Minister for Finance if he had engaged with […]

The oversight by the Department of Finance on the Special Liquidators handling of the liquidation of the Irish Bank Resolution Corporation (IBRC) has been, and continues to be, woefully inadequate, Catherine Murphy TD has said. In the wake of a damning second periodic report by the Public Accounts Committee which includes a section on the […]

The Minister for Housing Eoghan Murphy is seriously failing homeless families, Social Democrats co-leader Catherine Murphy TD has said. Deputy Murphy was speaking after the release today of Department of Housing figures which show that the number of families living in emergency accommodation increased by 222 from January to February of this year. The figures […]

The Social Democrats have called on the Tánaiste to rethink his proposal for a two-thirds majority lock in any law that would follow a repeal of the Eighth Amendment. The party’s co-leader Catherine Murphy TD said today: “I very much welcome the fact that Mr Coveney has reconsidered his position on the abortion issue in […]

Social Democrats co-leader Catherine Murphy TD said renters are being priced out of Dublin into commuter counties – but without proper infrastructure supports being put in place. Deputy Murphy was commenting on today’s figures from the Residential Tenancies Board which show that in the four counties of Dublin, Kildare, Meath and Wicklow, the average rent […]