The following oral submission was made by Joe Costello, Labour Party Spokesperson on Urban Renewal to the An Bord Pleanála hearing on Clerys Planing appeal (3442/16). In my observations to Dublin City Council Planning Department on the Clerys application I referred to two concerns: Overdevelopment of Clery’s Building The vision of the scheme of Special…

Labour spokesperson on Health, Alan Kelly TD, has slammed the Government for its failure to address the lengthy waiting times for children in need of scoliosis surgery. A report from the Children’s Ombudsman has found that some children are waiting up to 18 months for the procedure, more than four times the recommended period. Commenting…

Labour spokesperson on Children and Youth Affairs, Jan O’Sullivan TD, has called the €4 million capital funding in childcare by Minister Katherine Zappone inadequate. “The capital funding in childcare by Minister Zappone is wholly inadequate to address the many problems facing the childcare sector. “Our State has never invested enough in young children and their…

Speaking at the Third International Conference for Child Detainees in Ramallah, Palestine on the 15th March, 2017, Joe Costello, former Minister for Trade and Development, accused the Israeli Government of flagrant breach of international human rights law and the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. “No other country in the world deals systemically with…

Tonight, in the iconic Riverside Church in New York City, Labour Party Senator Aodhán Ó Ríordáin, is hosting Irish Stand. This event will be an evening of multi-cultural prose, speech, song, and wit, and is intended to serve as a call for inclusivity, diversity, and human rights for our global citizenry.   Speaking ahead of the…

“The St. Patrick’s Day celebrations around the world are celebrations of the success of emigration. Around St. Patrick’s Day, we recall people leaving a land – sometimes of hunger, sometimes of oppression – to find a better future. “When Enda Kenny accepted an invitation to visit President Trump in the White House, I was concerned….

Labour spokesperson on Communications Sean Sherlock has criticised the lack of urgency shown by the Government in dealing with the challenges facing An Post, and the possible closure of over 200 Post Offices. Over a year on since the publication of the Kerr report, little action has been taken to deliver on its recommendations, and…

Offering support for Aodhán Ó Ríordáin’s Irish Stand event taking place in New York this Friday, Labour Party Leader, Brendan Howlin has said: “Today, our Taoiseach will visit the White House, and present a bowl of shamrock to Donald Trump. We know he will raise the plight of the undocumented Irish in America. For now,…