Type: Press

Windfall Tax to be redistributed to those who need it most Energy price cap to keep the heat on for households Emergency eviction ban while supply comes on stream Launching its Alternative Budget today (Thursday 22nd September) Labour has demanded a radical package of measures to protect households this winter. Speaking today, Labour finance spokesperson…

Thousands of care and community sector workers taking strike action this week deserve better than a Government which continually seeks to dodge its responsibilities towards them and those who rely on the vital services they provide, says Labour Health Spokesman, Duncan Smith. After a visiting a picket line held by hundreds of SIPTU, Forsa and…

Commission recommendations align with Party’s call for a renewed focus on taxes on wealth Responding to the publication of the Commission on Taxation and Welfare’s report, Labour Finance Spokesperson Ged Nash said: “The Tax and Welfare Commission report is an honest, independent assessment of how our taxation and welfare system needs to be reorientated and…

Questioning the Taoiseach in the Dáil today, Labour leader Ivana Bacik said people need State intervention to tackle spiralling energy prices. Urging Government to take a three-pronged approach to safeguard against huge bills, Deputy Bacik said radical thinking is needed, calling for consideration of the nationalisation of the Corrib gas field. Deputy Bacik said: “Emergency…

Drogheda’s Premier Periclase plant ‘canary in coalmine’ as redundancy notices set to be issued Planned energy supports won’t be sufficient to stave off job losses in industry  Labour finance spokesperson Ged Nash has called today (Tuesday, 7th September) on the government to create a new short-term wage support scheme to help protect jobs and firms most at…

Labour spokesperson on Further and Higher Education, Senator Annie Hoey has today (Monday 5th September) said that the escalating student accommodation crisis and the soaring cost-of-living for students must be addressed in Budget 2023. Speaking following the publication of the Union of Students in Ireland (USI) pre-budget submission, Senator Hoey said: “The student accommodation crisis…

Labour leader Ivana Bacik has today (Friday, 2nd September) said that the government must act urgently to tackle spiralling energy prices by introducing immediate price caps on energy bills, establishing a windfall tax on the excessive profits of energy and gas companies and increasing fuel allowance eligibility limits for people on low to middle incomes….

Following the broadcasting of a Liveline programme today (Thursday, 1st September), during which the consolidation of the Citizens Information Service was discussed, Leader of the Labour Party and TD for Dublin Bay South Ivana Bacik has renewed her calls for a halt to the further diminishing of the service. Deputy Bacik said, “I am concerned…

Labour education spokesperson Aodhán Ó Ríordáin has today (Wednesday, 1st September) written to the Minister of State for Special Education and Inclusion, Deputy Josepha Madigan seeking an emergency meeting with education spokespeople of all opposition parties to discuss the situation of school places for children with special educational needs. Deputy Ó Ríordáin said: “The Milne…

Labour Party Senator and spokesperson for Employment Affairs, Marie Sherlock. has today (Wednesday, 31st August) said that management at Reach newspapers must respect its workers and negotiate with the National Union of Journalists (NUJ) on fair pay and conditions. Speaking at a solidarity action in support of over 1,150 striking journalists across Ireland and the…

Labour TD for Dublin Bay North, Aodhán Ó Ríordáin said today (Monday, 29th August) said the Minister of State with responsibility for Public Health, Well Being and National Drugs Strategy Frank Feighan must now immediately intervene to deliver mobile injection centres and said that the failure by Government to deliver injection centres is costing people…

Labour spokesperson on children Seán Sherlock has today (Monday 29th August) strongly criticised Government plans to abandon an independent review of mother and baby home testimony and said that the voices of survivors must be heard. Deputy Sherlock said: “It is appalling that the government can dismiss the concerns raised in the testimonies recorded by…

       Eviction ban must be introduced immediately        Local authorities need power to protect people at risk Labour housing spokesperson Rebecca Moynihan has said that new record levels of homelessness announced today (Friday, 26th August) clearly demonstrate that the Government’s Housing for All plan is rapidly failing fast. With now 10,568…

Mortgage interest rate cap needed now Responding to reports that the European Central Bank (ECB) will soon hike its lending rates twice by the end of the year, Labour finance spokesperson Ged Nash said the Government has no option but to support Labour’s legislation to cap mortgage interest rates in Ireland. Deputy Nash said: “People…

Labour Party leader Ivana Bacik has today (Monday 22nd August) said that less talk and more action is needed to avoid blackouts this winter and to secure Ireland’s energy supply into the future. Deputy Bacik said: “While the commissioning of yet another Government review is to be broadly welcomed, we believe that it comes as…

Early Years Educators are underpaid Parents are paying too much Children are without a suitable place Responding to the launch of the SIPTU Big Start Campaign Early Years Staffing and Pay Survey, Labour Leader Ivana Bacik TD has set out Labour’s vision for the sector. Deputy Bacik said, “The results of the Big Start Campaign’s…

Labour spokesperson for Health and Disability, Duncan Smith has today (Monday, 15th August) called on the Government to prioritise people with disabilities in Budget 2023. Deputy Smith said: “We want to see concrete measures in this Budget that clearly set out how the government is going to tackle the scourge people have accessing disability services….

Government sitting on Low Pay Commission recommendation on minimum wage  Report must be published now and rise introduced in October, not January  Labour finance spokesperson Ged Nash has said both private and public sector workers need an immediate and significant pay rise to combat the cost of living crisis. Responding to Bank of Ireland’s Economic…

Labour health and disability spokesperson Duncan Smith has today (Friday, 22nd July) said that the Department of Health must emerge from the shadows, take responsibility and pay tens of thousands of frontline health workers still waiting on a pandemic recognition payment. Deputy Smith said: “The fact that the Department of Health has not paid the…

Commenting on the report of the Environmental Protection Agency that Ireland’s greenhouse gas emissions rose by 4.7% last year, Labour Leader Ivana Bacik TD has called for more urgency in Ireland’s national response to the climate emergency. Deputy Bacik said: “The Environmental Protection Agency has today reported that Ireland’s greenhouse gas emissions rose by almost…

Any potential rise in European Central Bank (ECB) interest rates will clobber almost half a million hard-pressed homeowners according to Labour finance spokesperson Ged Nash. Speaking in advance of an expected ECB interest hike tomorrow (Thursday 21st July) Deputy Nash called on the Government to adopt Labour’s recently introduced Bill and change the law to…

Labour’s Finance spokesperson Ged Nash has hit out at the decision by AIB to withdraw cash services at 70 branches across the country. He said: “This tone deaf decision taken by executives of a majority State-owned bank who appear to be accountable to nobody is another nail in the coffin for relationship banking in Ireland….

Labour employment affairs spokesperson, Marie Sherlock has today (Tuesday, 19th July) warned that the lack of imagination shown by the Government to deal with public sector pay will lead to strike action this autumn. Senator Sherlock said: “It’s over a month since the breakdown of negotiations between unions and public sector employers. Workers are frustrated,…

Labour Party Senator and spokesperson for Employment Affairs, Marie Sherlock. has today (Monday, 18th July) called for the immediate introduction of legally defined maximum temperature limits for outdoor and indoor work in Ireland as we face the likelihood of increased summer temperatures. Senator Sherlock said: “Temperatures hitting in excess of 30 degrees may feel like…