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Cian O’Callaghan TD, Social Democrats spokesperson on Foreign Affairs, has called for Ireland to take a strong stand in defence of democratic values in Belarus. Deputy O’Callaghan said: “Ireland must take a strong stand in support of the people of Belarus and democratic values. Free and fair elections with robust independent international oversight must take […]

Councillors from the Social Democrats in Kildare and Offaly participated in an online council meeting today to discuss the implications of the regional restrictions imposed across three counties last week. Birr Councillor Clare Claffey said: “More nuance should be applied to lockdowns in response to future outbreaks. The community is distressed and we need to […]

Holly Cairns TD, Social Democrats spokesperson on Agriculture, has criticised the lack of commitment from the meat processing industry to immediately close individual plants in the event of further outbreaks of Covid-19. Holly said: “At today’s Special Covid-19 Committee hearing, I asked representatives of the meat industry to clearly state if individual plants would be […]

Social Democrats TD for Dublin Central, Gary Gannon, has called on the Minister for Education and officials from her department to appear before the Oireachtas Special Covid-19 Committee to provide a progress report on the Government’s plan to reopen schools at the end of this month. Deputy Gannon, who is the party’s spokesperson on Education, […]

Gary Gannon TD, Social Democrats spokesperson on Education, today called on the Minister for Education to reassure Leaving Cert students that the predictive grades debacle in Scotland could not happen here. Deputy Gannon said: “Students and parents in Ireland will have watched the controversy over predictive grades in Scotland with understandable concern. We are just […]

Bhí mé ag cainnt le Jeo Breathnach le déanaí ar Raidió na Life.  Phléigh muid cúrsaí polaitíochta, na Glasaigh, Micheál Martin, tromaíocht agus daonlathas sna pairtí clé.  An-deas labhairt le Joe arís. Tá súil agam go mbainfidh tú taithneamh as! I spoke recently with Joe Breathnach on Radió na Life.  We chatted about politics, the […]

Holly Cairns TD, Social Democrats spokesperson for Agriculture, said today that the country is paying a high price for the failure of the Government to regulate the meat industry and called for an immediate plan to be put in place to prevent further outbreaks within the sector. Holly said: “For some time I have been […]

Róisín Shortall TD, co-leader of the Social Democrats, said that today’s announcement of localised restrictions in three counties highlighted the ongoing need to closely monitor all high-risk settings and called for increased scrutiny of working and living conditions associated with meat processing plants. Deputy Shortall said: “While this may be a sign that the testing […]

The public health notice currently in place for Portrane beach, which advises against swimming in the sea for the entire 2020 bathing season, is a matter of huge concern for the local community, according to Social Democrats Councillor for Rush-Lusk, Paul Mulville. Cllr Mulville said: “I welcome confirmation from Fingal County Council management that they […]

Holly Cairns TD, Social Democrats spokesperson for Agriculture, has renewed her call for a task force for the meat processing industry following the emergence of new Covid-19 clusters in a number of plants. Holly said: “While the health and wellbeing of the workers must be our main priority, ongoing outbreaks at meat processing plants have […]

Social Democrats TD for Cork South West and spokesperson on Further and Higher Education, Holly Cairns, has welcomed the publication of health guidelines for the safe resumption of on-campus activity in third level institutions but said further clarification was needed from the Government in some areas. Holly said: “The publication of the Implementation Guidelines for […]

Social Democrats Councillor for Birr, Clare Claffey, has welcomed confirmation from the HSE that there will be space for an out-of-hours GP service in the Primary Care Centre planned for the town. The details were provided in response to a Parliamentary Question to the Minister for Health from Róisín Shortall TD, co-leader of the Social […]

Róisin Shortall TD, co-leader of the Social Democrats and spokesperson on Finance, has expressed concerns at today’s announcement by Bank of Ireland of 1,400 job losses. Deputy Shortall said: “Even though redundancies in the banking sector had been anticipated, the scale of the job losses proposed is staggering and will see staff numbers reduced from […]

Social Democrats TD and spokesperson for Social Protection, Gary Gannon, has criticised the further suspension of an employee’s legal entitlement to claim redundancy if they have been laid-off or put on reduced hours for a set number of weeks. Deputy Gannon said: “This decision is a worrying erosion of statutory redundancy rights. Under the Redundancy […]