News

Social Democrats Councillor Jennifer Whitmore has called on Iarnród Éireann to offer refunds to Wicklow rail commuters in recognition of the service disruptions to passengers over the coming week. Cllr Whitmore said: “Major service disruptions on the Greystones DART line are set to continue over the coming week as a result of fire damage which […]

Social Democrats spokesperson on Education Equality and Access, Cllr Gary Gannon, said today that much more needs to be done to equip students from disadvantaged schools to stay the course at university. Cllr Gannon was commenting on research form the Higher Education Authority showing that students from disadvantaged schools are almost twice as likely to […]

The Social Democrats have welcomed the passage today at committee stage of our Bill to increase to six months the amount of unpaid parental leave available to working parents of children aged up to 12. The Parental Leave (Amendment) Bill 2017 aims to help working families enjoy better work-life balance by permitting parents to spend […]

Social Democrats co-leader Róisín Shortall TD has said she is deeply concerned that two weeks after their cases were identified, no action has yet been taken in relation to the 1,631 women who developed cervical cancers and were not included in the CervicalCheck audit. Deputy Shortall said: “I have been raising the position of the […]

A Social Democrats’ private members’ bill to enable working parents to spend more time caring for their children goes to committee stage tomorrow, Wednesday 16th May. The Parental Leave (Amendment) Bill 2017 allows parents to take a total of six months (26 weeks) unpaid leave from their jobs without their employment rights being affected. This […]

The Social Democrats have strongly condemned today’s violence in Gaza in which dozens of Palestinians have been killed and hundreds injured by Israeli troops on the day the US opens its embassy in Jerusalem. The party’s co-leader Róisín Shortall TD said: “The decision by President Trump to move the US embassy to Jerusalem is utterly […]

Social Democrats co-leader Róisín Shortall TD has said that serious questions remain following today’s cabinet meeting on the Cervical Check crisis and that the public should not have to wait until the outcome of a formal investigation to get answers. Deputy Shortall also called on the government to expedite legislation to allow for a statutory […]

On foot of Assistant Garda Commissioner Pat Leahy’s warning of a “significant feud” in Ballymun, TD for the area Róisín Shortall has hit out at the shocking drop in the number of Gardaí stationed in Ballymun. Figures released to Deputy Shortall have revealed the number of sergeants in the area has been halved, from 24 at […]

Dublin Bay North Social Democrats Cllr. Cian O’Callaghan has called for Irish Rail to put staff and security in place at Clongriffin Dart Station following today’s graffiti attack. Cllr. O’Callaghan said: “In what Irish Rail has described as an “unprecedented graffiti attack”, a group of people blocked the doors of a train with pieces of […]

Social Democrats co-leader Catherine Murphy TD has welcomed today’s announcement by Google that it is to follow the lead of Facebook and restrict referendum advertisements. Deputy Murphy said: “While I welcome today’s announcement by Google and yesterday’s similar move by Facebook, we cannot leave the fate of our democratic decision making to the good intentions […]