News

The government’s Bill for employees with insecure contracts does not go far enough to protect precarious workers and will allow their exploitation to continue, the Social Democrats co-leader Roisin Shortall TD said today. Deputy Shortall said the Employment (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2017 contained significant loopholes that could be exploited by employers to undermine job security […]

Social Democrats Co-Leader Catherine Murphy has said the process leading up to the pending announcement later this week of the National Development Plan is fundamentally undemocratic and she called out Fianna Fáil for what she described as their attempts to straddle both sides of the fence on this issue. Deputy Murphy said that politicians from […]

Social Democrats co-leader Róisín Shortall TD has called upon the Minister for Education, Richard Bruton, to remove restrictions on student intake at new Educate Together primary schools. Deputy Shortall said: “Parents who had expected that their children would be enrolling in five schools run by the multi-denominational patron have been devastated to learn that they […]

On foot of today’s Daft.ie report showing record high rents in Dublin and other cities, the Social Democrats have called on the government to expedite the party’s Bill to give incoming tenants access to the amount of rent paid by their predecessors. The party’s co-leader Catherine Murphy TD said the Residential Tenancies (Amendment) Bill 2018 […]

The Social Democrats co-leader Catherine Murphy TD has today called on the government to immediately introduce nationwide rent caps as figures published by Daft.ie show that rents across the country have yet again reached an all-time high. Today’s Daft.ie report states that the average rent nationwide for the last quarter of 2017 was €1,227 per […]

IT USED TO be thought that Educate Together schools were niche schools for a small minority of atheist parents and immigrants. But they are not. They are multi-denominational schools that cater for parents who want to send their children into classrooms where being Catholic is not the status quo; who do not want their sons […]

Social Democrats Cllr Jennifer Whitmore has welcomed the launch of a Neighbourhood Watch in Charlesland Park. Whitmore said “The residents of Charlesland have worked together for the past eighteen months to improve the security of their estate. It began with the setting up of “WhatsApp” groups where residents from each street could contact each other […]

Social Democrats Cllr. Cian O’Callaghan said: “I strongly welcome the news that Fingal County Council has lodged a planning application for the Baldoyle to Portmarnock Cycling and Walking Route. This key piece of infrastructure will in time connect to  a more extensive cycling network – the Sutton to Sandycove cycling route to the South and […]

ASK ANY WORKING parent whether they’d be happy to take unpaid leave from their job to spend more time with their children, and the response is usually an enthusiastic ‘yes – if I could afford it!’ The reality is that with the high cost of childcare, the option of one parent – let’s face it […]

The Social Democrats today bring before the Dáil a Bill that gives working parents the opportunity to spend more time caring for their children. The Parental Leave (Amendment) Bill allows parents to take a total of six months (26 weeks) unpaid leave from their jobs without their employment rights being affected. This is an increase […]