It is vitally important as social distancing is not possible, schools are poorly ventilated, primary school children are not advised to wear masks and many students with AEN cannot wear them. We also have the largest class sizes in Europe. If education staff were vaccinated, it would reduce the risk of spreading Covid 19 and keep schools open. No wants our most vulnerable to be sidestepped so that education staff can be vaccinated but we have to remember teachers and SNAs are working with some of our most vulnerable in society. These students and the staff that care for them deserve to be protected.

As I am both a health care assistant and help my partner with her parents who need full time care, she only gets €109 a week which is shambolic for all she does and saves the country like all other carers who look after their children, parents, and young adults with disabilities, they need more support as medication, treatment and other outgoings are very expensive and it is unrealistic to expect these people to live on such a small allowance.

Direct Provision Centres are the accommodation provided to asylum seekers by the state (Citizensinformation.ie, 2021). A feature of the majority of these centres is that food is only available at set times, a breakfast, lunch, and evening meal (Citizensinformation.ie, 2021). This is highly problematic as the food is often inedible to the point that residents chose to skip the meal, meaning they are forced to go hungry (Barry, 2014). Similarly, any residents partaking in religious holidays such as Ramadan have no access to food at night when their fast is broken (Barry, 2014). Food is a human right, as is the availability and accessibility of it (OHCHR, 2021). By making healthy snacks constantly available to residents in Direct Provision Centres, many issues would be addressed in an easy and cost effective way. However, the emphasis is on healthy. Currently there are strict limits on access to fruit, and the food served is very high in salt, sugar, and fat (Barry, 2014). This cannot be the case for the accessible snacks as it would defeat the purpose. The White Paper was released in February and contains the government’s plan to abolish the Direct Provision system. While this is undoubtably a great step in the right direction, change is unlikely to occur before 2024 and these issues need to be addressed now. This petition is a call on Minister O’Gorman to enforce change in these centres immediately. The following links contain further, more detailed, information regarding the numerous nutritional issues faced by Asylum Seekers in Ireland: https://www.directprovision.org/copy-of-voices-in-dp https://nascireland.org/sites/default/files/WhatsFoodFINAL.pdf References: Barry, K. (2014) What’s Food Got To Do With It: Food Experiences of Asylum Seekers in Direct Provision. Nasc, the Irish Immigrant Support Centre. Citizensinformation.ie (2021) Direct provision system. Citizensinformation.ie. Available at: https://www.citizensinformation.ie/en/moving_country/asylum_seekers_and_refugees/services_for_asylum_seekers_in_ireland/direct_provision.html OHCHR | OHCHR and the right to food (2021). Available at: https://www.ohchr.org/En/Issues/ESCR/Pages/food.aspx

So that Children's referred appointments and elective surgeries do not turn into emergencies.

Repeated attempts to "live" with COVID-19 and to "balance lives and livelihoods" have failed, manifesting in the Governments in both Dublin and Stormont putting commercial interests ahead of the health of their people. We feel at this point there is surely no other game in town. We have been told repeatedly by public health experts that we cannot put all of our eggs in one (vaccine) basket. It is now time for the the trade union movement to act as the vehicle to deliver the utmost focus on public health and cooperation that is required from both administrations. We are calling on the Executives of ICTU and NIC-ICTU to formally adapt the 'Zero Covid' position and to use all of the tools at its disposal to bring the respective administrations in line.

We the Irish people who pay the salaries of the give every have the right to decide who governs our nation. We are now faced with a government who have shown lack of compassion and care towards the Irish people as a whole. They have proved they are not trustworthy or capable of governing this country. We the Irish people voted for change in February 2020 and this has been denied by the current cabinet. We deserve the change that was voted for. Our health system is at its knees, our housing is in a state of emergency and in need of a sensible but compassionate approach. Our elderly are being robbed of what they worked all their lives to earn, those who refuse to work are being rewarded heavily through social welfare. A reform of the entire system is needed. Our rural communities are at their knees, almost at the point of extinction. Crime is at an all time high in this country and the Garda are without the powers to enforce the rule of law.

Nurses are stretched beyond capacity during this pandemic. We have stood and given then an applause, but tgat is not enough. To expect them to pay €100 to allow them work is unfair. Please waiver the fee until 2022.

Shocking amount of unnecessary single use plastic bags being used, bad. Are they paying the levy for all these bags? It would be very easy to switch to brown paper bags(similar to TK maxx) for most of their

The North Connacht 110kV project proposes a number of overhead and underground cable corridors from Ballina to Ballaghaderreen. There are 7 corridors in total, 4 overground and 3 underground. For further details on the routes, please click on the link below to the Eirgrid North Connacht Web page and go into the virtual exhibition for further details. Attymass is an area of great natural beauty. It is also an area rich in heritage and culture. There are is also the health and welfare of the people living in the area. We are seeking to ensure that these cables go underground so we can preserve Attymass for future generations. The closing date is the 16th November and we as a community need to work together to keep Attymass beautiful and keep our community safe. Please join our petition. You can get more information on the exact route option on https://www.eirgridgroup.com/the-grid/projects/north-connacht/the-project/ Please put your name to our petition and fill out the feedback form on the website- Thank you

You, the Department of Education have a duty of care for the safety & protection of our children & school staff. Parents and school staff were promised “protection measures” yet none are in place. Now at level 5, there are still no safety measures and schools are reporting that when a positive case is in a classroom, they are unable to get hold of HSE and have no guidance only to get on with it and continue with positive cases within the class. NOT ACCEPTABLE.

According to the World Health Organization, approximately 1 billion cases and millions of deaths each year can be traced back to diseases originating from animal populations. In the past three decades, researchers have found more than 30 bacteria or viruses that are capable of infecting humans. Over three quarters of those are believed to have come from animal populations. And while the current pandemic may feel like a very rare happening, scientists say the pace of these pandemics is accelerating dramatically thanks to humans' ever-encroaching proximity to wildlife. "The time between these outbreaks is getting shorter and shorter," said Dr. Tracey McNamara, a professor of pathology at Western University of Health Sciences College of Veterinary Medicine. And it's becoming increasingly clear that these viruses aren't just a threat to our health -- they're also a threat to the global economy. "We are only able to sustain an outbreak maybe once every decade," said Dr. Peter Daszak, president of EcoHealth Alliance. "The rate we are going is not sustainable." As our population continues to expand, the interactions between humans and wildlife grow closer and closer. Cutting down forests and altering habitats push animals out of their own homes and deeper into human communities. Poorly developed hygiene and sanitation systems can make it more likely for germs to build up. With humans and animals living in such close proximity, bacteria and viruses can easily jump from one species to another. Once people become infected, the increasing interconnectedness of our world makes the spread of the disease easier. People and domestic animals are able to traverse the globe in a matter of hours. Illegal trade of exotic animals can move across borders undetected, carrying with them deadly bacteria and viruses.

Keep our kids safe, keep ourselves safe so we can keep our Ireland safe!!!