News

Social Democrats spokesperson on Energy and Climate Change Councillor Cian O’Callaghan has said proposed reductions in the Public Service Obligation Levy (PSO), made today by the Energy Regulator, should be passed onto customers. Under the proposed new rate for 2018/2019 the PSO on electricity bills would reduce by 45% and would mean decreases of about […]

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 […]

The Social Democrats today called on Facebook to notify Irish holders of up to 45,000 Facebook profiles if their data was potentially affected by the Cambridge Analytica data breach. Fingal Co Councillor Cian O’Callaghan said: “More than two in three Irish adults are on Facebook. Any of these people must be today asking themselves if […]

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 […]

Social Democrats Cllr. Cian O’Callaghan said: “The report of the National Oversight and Audit Committee showing key performance indicators for local government in 2016 states that Social Housing Stock figures provided by local authorities could not be published due to errors and inconsistencies with data supplied. It is incredible to think that our local government […]

The government must act urgently to implement the safety recommendations of an Oireachtas Housing Committee report due to be published today, Dublin Bay North Social Democrats’ councillor and spokesperson on Fire Safety and Building Standards Cian O’Callaghan has said. Councillor O’Callaghan said: “The recommendations of a report by the Oireachtas Housing Committee stating that there […]

The statement by Minister for Housing Eoghan Murphy T.D. in the Dáil last night that he favours a system of self-certification by landlords with respect to overcrowding, fire safety and housing standards demonstrates that he has learned little from the failures of recent years, Social Democrats spokesperson on housing quality and standards councillor Cian O’Callaghan […]

Social Democrats spokesperson on housing quality and building standards Councillor Cian O’Callaghan said: “The failure of Dublin City Council and other local Councils to enforce minimum standards in the private rental sector as exposed in last night’s RTÉ Prime Time should come as no surprise. Local authorities have a very poor track record when it […]

Following the recent announcement by the government that it intends to hold a plebiscite on Directly Elected Mayors for cities, Social Democrats Councillor Cian O’Callaghan said: “I’m a strong supporter of a Directly Elected Mayor for Dublin – I was the only councillor in Fingal County Council to speak in favour of this proposal when […]

Assurances by the Minister for Education that all school buildings have been built to the highest standards in recent years don’t stack up in the light of the announcement this week that another 30 schools are to undergo fire safety audits, Social Democrats Cllr Cian O’Callaghan said today. The Fingal Councillor, who is the party’s […]

The Department of Education has responded to fire safety concerns in five primary schools at a snail’s pace – putting children and teachers at unnecessary risk, Social Democrats Councillor Cian O’Callaghan said today. Cllr O’Callaghan was commenting after the Department revealed that fire safety audits it commissioned found breaches of standards at five recently-built primary […]

The fire safety review announced by Minister for Housing Eoghan Murphy in the wake of the Grenfell Tower disaster deliberately excludes social housing where fire risks are most serious, according to Social Democrats Cllr Cian O’Callaghan. Cllr O’Callaghan said the scope of the ongoing review is excessively narrow, focusing only on multi-storey buildings of five […]

The Minister for Housing is sitting on a major fire safety review completed over a year ago while today announcing a separate review in the wake of the Grenfell Tower blaze, the Social Democrats said today. Dublin Bay North Councillor Cian O’Callaghan said: “Mr Murphy is saying that the Grenfell Tower fire is going to […]