Number of people unemployed falls by 25,700 The Tánaiste and Labour Party leader, Joan Burton T.D., has welcomed new CSO data showing unemployment down to 8.4% in April, a drop of 1.3% since the same time last year. The number of people unemployed fell by 25,700 over the 12-month period.  The Tánaiste said: “When Labour…

Labour Party Senator Kevin Humphreys has called on the Minister for Health to intervene immediately in the dispute over the location of a new National Maternity Hospital. Senator Humphreys commented: “Further delays to a new National Maternity Hospital being built are completely unacceptable. I am calling on the Minister for Health to intervene immediately. “The…

I would like to congratulate Senators Ivana Bacik, Kevin Humphreys, Denis Landy, Ged Nash, and Aodhán Ó Ríordáin, all of whom won seats for the Labour Party in the 25th Seanad. The fact that we achieved a clean sweep, with all our vocational panel candidates winning seats, is testament to the work put in by…

I am very pleased to have this opportunity to address the House on the challenge of addressing the impact of the unprecedented combination of conflicts and humanitarian crises worldwide, but especially in the broader Middle East and Africa. I have been proud to lead the Irish aid response over the past two years as Minister…

I thought I had seen it all but if the media reporting is accurate then we are going back to the past. If so, I believe politics is failing. The issue been a consistent blight on the political system for many years and we do have to recognise that it has recently divided society as…

Ceann Comhairle, In light of the current political situation and ongoing attempts to form a new government, this annual SPU update has been prepared on a technical, no policy change basis. Regardless, and in another very real way, the document tells a positive story of remarkable change. In April 2011, shortly after Labour entered government,…

  I made my maiden speech as a Deputy in the Thirty-first Dáil five years ago and it was on the matter of mental health. I am glad to have the opportunity to also discuss this important issue so early in the lifetime of this new Dáil. The last number of years have been years…

It was with great sadness that I heard of the death of James Downey, and my sympathies today are with his wife, Moira and his daughters Rachel and Vanessa. Jim was without doubt one of Ireland’s finest journalists and he served as a distinguished newsman at local and national level for over five decades. In…