The student accommodation crisis in Ireland is escalating, with a severe shortage of purpose-built student accommodation (PBSA) forcing many students to settle for less-than-ideal living situations. One common option is Digs, where students live in a homeowner's spare room. The government encourages this by allowing homeowners to earn up to €14,000 tax-free. While practical, this has left students vulnerable, with no legal protections. In some cases, students in Digs can face overnight eviction, excessive restrictions, or misrepresentation of their living arrangement, all while homeowners benefit from tax relief. The Union of Students in Ireland (USI) sees the Residential Tenancies (Amendment) Bill 2024 to address these issues. This bill introduces moderate legal protections for those living in Digs, such as minimum notice periods for ending a tenancy and ensuring rented rooms cannot be entered without prior notice. These protections align with those guaranteed to students in PBSA. We understand the government's concern that mandatory written agreements might discourage homeowners from renting out spare rooms. However, USI research shows that in 66% of cases where an agreement exists, it was the homeowner who suggested it. This indicates that such agreements are not a significant barrier. We urge you to view this legislative proposal with an open mind and support the Residential Tenancies (Amendment) Bill 2024, ensuring students have basic rights in this government-endorsed living option. Thank you for your consideration.

The Citizens' Assembly on Drugs Use has the potential to bring justice-based reform to the archaic and abusive Irish drugs policy. However, figures within the HSE, Department of Health and the Irish Government are pushing for a new system which will see all those caught with small personal amounts of cannabis coerced into 'brief' SAOR medical interventions in order to avoid criminal sanctions. This policy will have massive consequences on human rights, bodily autonomy and basic dignity. It will also have disproportionate impact on: • Marginalised communities and people. • Medical cannabis users and patients. • Those in need of addiction treatment. The proposed system will clog up addiction treatment services, filling it with people who use cannabis and will result in people who need genuine help waiting longer. What we really need is a harm-reduction based approach to cannabis which focuses on safe consumption and cultivation, similar to what has been done in Malta with their cannabis social club model.

*WARNING* Possible wake up call ahead, be prepared to grab the wheel! To all the parents like myself on all the WhatsApp groups, checking the time of GAA training for tomorrow... Recently driving home from work I felt I was nodding off a bit, a product of this modern world, too much on, too much running around, too much technology coming at me, I'm exhausted to be honest! When I got home and after doing the domestic dance of who's making dinner that night, I fell in front of what was my "babysitter" growing up - the TV. At the same time my kids are spread out all over the house in front of their modern "babysitter" - the mobile phone. Why did I get them these devices? Because you got them for your kids, and you got them because I got them for my kids, peer pressure at its worst! The internet is an amazing tool, the reason you are reading this message, but we all know there is the dark side that we don't like to think about, is it a case of modern life has us so tired that we are asleep at the wheel or are we just turning a blind eye? The internet is like a car, difficult to live without one, safe and practical in the hands of an adult, but give a car to a 12-16 year old and it's possibly a form of abuse! Dangerous to the child and dangerous to those around that child! The state has a dark history of child abuse, something you would think would not happen again in our modern society, that we would not let it happen on our watch, however abuse can come in many subtle forms! Are we all guilty of staying quiet like all those cases years ago, choosing the easier path!? The media is awash with the side effects of these devices - social media anxiety, mental health issues, shore attention span, behavioural issues, desensitization to violence, social disruption, sleeping disorders, eating disorders, underage sex, teenage pregnancies, underage sex crimes - the list goes on, it’s some punishment on our kids and on our communities just so they can be "connected" and watch a few dance videos! Even with something as trivial as dance videos you start to realise the algorithms are pushing more and more sexualized content towards you! The sexualization of our kids at such a young age and the normalization of that fact is a serious modern-day issue. "You need to build a relationship with your kids, educate your kids" - this is what most internet guides tell parents. Good advice but it only addresses "pull" technology i.e. educate your kids not to go looking for the darker side of the internet. The problem is exacerbated now by "push" technology such as Snapchat where the darker side comes looking for you! Everything is not how it seems when it comes to Snapchat, on one side there is what appears to be a harmless app where kids can swap funny photos etc. On the other side it’s an unregulated, unfiltered, hidden, dark network, where kids can make and receive any kind of content they like, and I mean ANYTHING! Sure, wasn't there always a playboy magazine knocking around back in the day I hear you say, but the playboy magazine didn't contain graphical content of underage kids, and wasn't interactive, asking you to create content back! If you said 20 years ago that we're going to create a device and put it into each child's pocket and one thing it will enable is for kids to send naked pictures and videos of themselves to each other, then people would have thought you were crazy! Snapchat knows this but are too busy making millions, it will argue they are only supplying the pipes, the kids are the ones pushing the toxic water through. It's the gun manufacture debate, they only make the guns, you're the one pulling the trigger. Just like web email has filters, Snapchat could implement filters, they choose not to, they could even put AI software in place that says “we know that's you, cop yourself on”! As a 16-year-old, I would have been all over Snapchat, it has the thrill of a new relationship, aspects of gaming (fishing for better rewards) as well as the titillation! The content circulating on Snapchat can trigger kids to have an interest in porn, they then go looking for stronger content in other places on the internet. There's also a known sextortion scam circulating on Snapchat which has led to numerous shocking suicides! People say you can't change Society, but Society is the people, Society is us, we can change! Why did we get the phones in the first place? Society put peer pressure on us to get them, so let’s put peer pressure back on Society to change, then Society can go full circle and remove the phones! I believe most parents deep down know we've made a mistake with access to these phones at too early an age. Forget all the serious issues above, even just to get rid of the domestic arguments around screen time would make them worth removing! This is the cigarettes of our time causing the cancer in our Society, I truly believe in 10 years’ time people will look back and say, “what the hell were we thinking?!” Our government knows they are awash with social and underage issues but are they asleep at the wheel or is it a case of too little too late? Are they willing to take on the phone manufacturers?! The ask here is that you put your name to this petition asking for a public vote on smart phones. I believe if the vote was put to the public, the public would do the right thing! If you want to get involved in our movement, please join our Smartphone Free Childhood Ireland WhatsApp Group Invite And/or please take this quick poll (only two questions - do you believe there should be a minimum age and if so, what age?) https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/8PJK9SH Thanks for reading, let's keep our kids safe out there! Sound Bytes Sam References: Jonathan Haidt on the Mental-Health Crisis and Smartphones https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w6NfPHrVilc The Anxious Generation Evidence  https://www.anxiousgeneration.com/research/the-evidence

This is important because we have recently recognised Palestine as a state, and should accommodate them with an embassy.

It's been revealed that the HSE has taken in more than €3.5 million in parking charges from Galway University Hospital and Portiuncula over the past four years. [1] It's disgraceful that people are paying such high costs for parking at a hospital. Those who are being treated for cancer or other long-term conditions bear the biggest burden of hospital parking charges – this is disgraceful and must change. Together, we call on the HSE to scrap parking charges for Galway University Hospital for patients with immediate effect so that people who are seeking healthcare can do so with dignity. [1] https://connachttribune.ie/hospitals-e3-5-million-profit-from-patient-parking-613/

everyone deserves a safe place to call home

It is essential given the examples worldwide including the likes of Thames Water in England that privatisation of water services cannot happen in Ireland. This can only be guaranteed through referendum

The Residential Tenancies Board knows how much each property registered with them charges renters.  On HowMuchRent.com, you can see non-landlord-occupied properties advertised on Daft, which are not registered with the RTB. Why is this still occurring? Some properties have increased by over 30% without penalties/fines from the RTB. Why? RTB seems to have a tactic of only caring to investigate something when an individual has a case before the court rather than trying to proactively protect renters' rights. The Residential Tenancies Board (RTB) has powers to investigate, on its own volition, certain breaches of rental law by landlords called improper conducts. One of these improper conducts is raising the rent above the amount allowed by the Rent Pressure Zone I have tried solving this at Howmuchrent.com, where renters can share their rental experiences, creating a transparent database of past rents and experiences at properties. For most renters, it's their biggest expense each month. The aim is to give tenants free access to historical rental data, similar to what prospective buyers have with property sales. Please sign and share this petition with those seeking a fair deal for renters. Housing Commission: details of all rents should be publicly available and pressure zones replaced: https://www.irishtimes.com/politics/2024/05/22/make-all-rents-publicly-available-housing-commission-says-in-report-critical-of-system/ 

The current state of motorists speeding on the road is an accident waiting to happen.  The 50km/hr speed limit is largely ignored, and the condition of the road-- a residential stretch of 2 km of road-- makes speed motorists an even more dangerous situation. Before someone is gravely injured or killed, make the road safe for everyone.

Mobuoy dump is beside the River Faughan, which supplies 60% of Derry's drinking water. Experts say the Mobuoy site may contain 1.6m tonnes of waste. If the dump is not properly cleaned up soon, then the river could be contaminated, making our water undrinkable. Even though the site closed in 2013, people are still illegally dumping at the site! The minister responsible for waste in NI, Andrew Muir has yet to come up with a recovery plan for the site. The only suggestion his department has provided is to give local residents bottled water if the river becomes impacted. It is time for the Minister to get a grip of the situation: secure the site, clean up Mobouy and ensure clean and safe drinking water for the people of Derry.

Dear all,  I hope you are all in good health.  As you all know, Irish Society of International Doctors (ISID) and Association of Irish Pakistani Physicians and Surgeons (AIPPS) who represent 1000's of international doctors and their families have been engaging and working with stakeholders on visa delays for the past year or so to benefit everyone especially healthcare workers in Ireland. All skilled professionals living in Ireland are facing serious delays in processing for their families visas but some nationalities are facing more delays than others with waiting time beyond one year before their applications are being processed.  This has negatively impacted their mental health and emotional well being and in turn might be worsening the staffing crisis and patient care. Foreign healthcare workers constitute more than 60% of the Irish health system and are the backbone of this system. They deserve to be treated fairly and to have their families with them in Ireland especially when their jobs are so demanding.  A recent survey conducted by us revealed that certain countries (including Pakistan) have: 1) High visa rejection rate for family members i.e. spouse, children, parents etc  2) Long delays in application processing - more than one  year for even visit visas  3) Vague and generic copy paste refusal reasons    4) Processing time for appeals is one year plus  5) Poor Communication: there is a serious element of broken communication with applicants and the Department.  Lastly, we urge Pakistani Ambassadorin Ireland to take up and investigate this issue with the Irish Consulate in Karachi as the community is not happy with their treatment; through an audit of applicants being rejected as THERE IS NO COMPLAINT CELL THAT EXISTS WHERE THESE ISSUES AND UNFAIR TREATMENT CAN BE RAISED. Please sign this petition and spread the word to resolve this grave issue. #FastTrackFamilyVisa Many thanks. Dr Liqa Rehman ||| Mr Nauman Nabi President ,ISID ||| President AIPPS G.Secretary, AIPPS ||| Executive, ISID

We are siphoning off the tax base of many, often poorer countries by our corporate tax policies and loopholes. We deny them the funds for hospitals, schools, social supports and infrastructure as well as their capacity to fight climate change. As a tax haven we are doing far more global damage than anything we do that damages the world’s climate. Apple admitted to the US senate that their effective tax rate in Ireland is 2%. Microsoft acknowledged that they put €98 billion through Ireland ‘that was not subject to tax in this jurisdiction’ They paid €3 billion in tax that year ( on €24 billion at 12% ?) making it approx 2% tax rate again. The untaxed money comes from Profit Shifting to Ireland ie profits from other countries. My friend in sub Saharan Africa said all the youth have smartphones but not enough to eat. That’s the power of advertising a product-on which no tax was paid. Ireland is a country that is generous in it’s contributions to developing nations but we completely undermine this by our tax haven activities. It’s time to call for a change in direction to a more ethical business and tax model