News

Social Democrats co-leader Róisín Shortall TD has accused the Minister for Health Simon Harris of showing extremely poor judgment in allowing serving HSE Director General Tony O’Brien to take up a remunerated position on the board of a US medical supplies company. Deputy Shortall said: “It is entirely inappropriate that the head of the HSE […]

WITH NEW EU-WIDE data protection laws on the way, there has been a lot of discussion about the digital age of consent, but not a lot of clarity on what it actually is. Despite what you may have heard, it’s not about putting age restrictions on access to the internet, or limiting young people’s expression […]

The Social Democrats are seeking cross party support for legal changes to ban the commercial monetisation of the digital data of children and teens under the age of 18. The party is today tabling amendments to the government’s Data Protection Bill 2018 to prohibit the use of children’s data for marketing purposes. The party’s co-leader […]

Social Democrats co-leader Róisín Shortall TD has said immediate steps must be taken to make sure that people affected by the CervicalCheck controversy receive prompt and appropriate treatment and supports, and to guarantee that there is full accountability for mishandling of diagnosis cases. Deputy Shortall said: “I welcome the proposed setting up of an independent […]

Social Democrats co-leader Róisín Shortall TD today called on the Minister for Health to intervene to make sure that all 206 women whose smear tests have shown they have cervical cancer are notified immediately. Deputy Shortall said: “It beggars belief that no lessons appear to have been learned out of the tragedy of Vicky Phelan’s […]

The Social Democrats have renewed their calls for the establishment of a Commission on the Future of Media in Ireland and warned the need for such a Commission is more pressing than ever not least because of today’s Reporters Without Borders report showing that Ireland has slipped two places into 16th place in a worldwide […]

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 […]

The Social Democrats today publish reform proposals to make lobbying activities more open and government decisions more accountable. The initiative is in direct response to the recent controversy over highly inappropriate contacts between Communications Minister Denis Naughten and a professional lobbyist for Independent News and Media in relation to the company’s proposed takeover of Celtic […]

The Social Democrats have said the government must restore capitation rates for primary schools in this year’s Budget to ease the unsustainable burden on parents of subsidising the State’s ‘free education’. The party’s co-leader Róisín Shortall TD made the call following reports today of analysis by Grant Thornton which shows that parents are forking out […]

Social Democrats Political Director Anne-Marie McNally has said that today’s Youth Work Ireland report showing that youngsters increasingly turn to the internet rather than parents or teachers shows how important it is for us to radically overhaul how we, as a society, talk about sex. Ms McNally said: “Yet again we are faced with stark […]