News

The Social Democrats today called for a Yes vote in Friday’s Divorce referendum to ensure a more humane and compassionate divorce system in Ireland. “A Yes vote in this Friday’s referendum will be an important step towards a more humane and compassionate system that recognises that for some couples divorce is the best way forward.” […]

The Social Democrats have this evening said they are strongly opposed to any visit by US President Donald Trump to Ireland, calling it a betrayal of Irish values “President Trump is an aggressive nationalist and protectionist whose policies and approaches to international relations undermine international cooperation and threaten global security, trade and environmentalism.” The Social […]

Up to half a million families could benefit from extensions to unpaid parental leave under a Social Democrats private members bill which is scheduled to pass through the Oireachtas today. “The additional flexibility will help take some pressure off working parents, who can use the extra leave to, say, work a four-day week for part […]

The Social Democrats today blasted as ‘pathetic’ the government’s anti-corruption efforts and renewed its call for an Independent Anti-Corruption Agency to tackle white collar crime and corruption. “Fine Gael has repeatedly squandered opportunities to deliver meaningful anti-corruption reforms and back them up with resources and expertise to vigorously prevent, detect and prosecute corruption and white-collar […]

Social Democrats co-leader Róisín Shortall TD today called on the Minister for Health to provide full details of official advice he received ahead of making a blanket offer of free repeat smear tests in the wake of the CervicalCheck scandal. “Policy making by Tweet has become an unfortunate hallmark of the Minister and this Fine […]

The Social Democrats today called on the government to produce an Action Plan Against Racism, as the party endorsed an Anti-Racism Election Protocol ahead of May’s local and European elections. “By joining with other political parties in signing this protocol, we are sending a clear signal to voters that our party rejects racism, hate speech […]

Social Democrats co-leader Róisín Shortall TD has blasted the government’s Sláintecare Action Plan as deeply underwhelming at a time of unprecedented crisis in our health service. “Today’s wishy-washy report is yet further proof that the Fine Gael government is not remotely committed to delivering  to Irish people the kind of universal public health service which […]

Social Democrats co-leader Róisín Shortall TD today said that without decent public services, all parents, and especially those parenting alone, face enormous costs. “Today’s report from the St. Vincent de Paul on the increasing rate of poverty among working lone parents should act as another wake-up call for Government on the deficiences in our public […]

Social Democrats co-leader Róisín Shortall TD said the government must now take stock of all options for the National Children’s Hospital following today’s offer by building contractor BAM. “Instead of doubling down on a succession of bad decisions, it’s time for the government to produce full costings on all options for the Children’s Hospital including […]

Social Democrats co-leader Róisín Shortall TD today called on the Taoiseach to correct the Dáil record relating to the actions and duties of the senior civil servant on the board of the National Children’s Hospital. “Now either the official did what he was supposed to do and alerted the Minister or he didn’t. If he […]