#EducationIs a public good. The report outlines three funding options: 1) Funding Option One: A Predominantly State-Funded System. 2) Funding Option Two: Increased State-Funding with Continuing Student Fees. 3) Funding Option Three: Increased State-Funding with Deferred Payment of Fees Through Income Contingent Loans. USI know that Funding Option One is key for Irish students' future. Funding Option One: A predominantly state-funded system advocates that the state would significantly increase its core grant to institutions and the €3,000 undergraduate student contribution would be abolished. Higher education would be free at the point of entry for all first-time EU students and for part-time learners.There is also the possibility of extending free tuition to postgraduate education. Funding Option Three will have a negative effect on the lives of current and future Irish students. USI know that an income-contingent loan scheme is not a viable solution to third-level funding as a burden of €20,000+ debt upon graduation will deter people from applying to college. Financial strain of placing this debt on graduates spans across all communities and groups including parents, children, staff and teachers - not just students. The campaign is supported by members of the Coalition for Publicly Funded Higher Education including SIPTU, IMPACT, TUI, IFUT and the National Youth Council of Ireland (NYCI) so far. FACTS ABOUT LOANS America's student loan debt ($1tn+) is greater in value than the combined economies of Ireland, New Zealand, and Australia. In other words, American students owe the combined value of all transactions in those countries in a year. Home-ownership in under-40s in New Zealand has drastically fallen since the introduction of student loans, from 57% to 25%.” Charging no tuition-related fees, Germany has 41 universities that are considered by Times Higher Education to be among the best in the world. In France, where they have registration fees of under €200, there are 27. 70% of the 2015 college graduates in the UK are not expected to ever repay their college loans, according to The Institute of Fiscal Studies.

Childcare costs for stay-at-home parents - it costs 100% of their salary. It's a matter of equality that any provision for childcare in the budget needs to be paid equally to these families, who are struggling to keep their heads above water. A payment to help one family and not another pits families against each other, when all families deserve to be helped. We need to put people first. This is about giving every parent, regardless of their gender and their family structure, the right to choose how to care for their children, which is such a short period of their lives but can be such a struggle. All financial positions are comparative and what makes families poor is that they shoulder the financial burden of bringing up the next generation. This burden is every bit as real for those whose childcare costs involve them working at home for no money. It makes it harder to rent a house. It makes is harder to buy a house. And it makes it harder to put food on the table. The fact that we do not have occupations in the public eye does not mean we don't exist and it does not mean that we don't provide a valuable service for society. Help show that this matters by supporting the campaign.

This is simply unfair. Lone parents are being forced in to an impossible situation where they have to seek maintenance from non custodial parents, or risk having their payments cut. But, get this - at the same time the Department of Social Protection has told non custodial parents, that they don’t have to pay. This is placing an unfair burden on lone parents who have to seek maintenance from the other parent. Domestic abuse survivors have to choose to suffer a financial loss or make contact with their abuser. A lone parent without an address can not issue legal proceedings and can not comply with the condition. These are just some examples of the countless ways that this oversight by the department is making lone parents suffer. Many lone parents have lost child maintenance after the Department of Social Protection wrote to non custodial parents, it is unfair for the department to now threaten these same parents because of their own legislative error.

Caitriona Lucas died while in service to our country as a volunteer coast guard on the 12th September 2016. She was a cherished wife, mother of two, sister, daughter, librarian, volunteer Coast Guard and so much to so many including a talented artist. She died a hero and it would honour her to have her art on an Irish stamp.

Irish Sign Language is an everyday language used by approximately six thousand citizens of the Republic of Ireland, mostly Deaf and hard of hearing. Unlike English, Irish Sign Language is a language which is indigenous to the island of Ireland, a language that has been evolved over the centuries. For several decades, Irish Sign Language has never been respected as a language. It has been reported that the users of the language have very little access to information in that language. They often have no choice but to use either of the current official languages, namely Irish and English, languages that are not in their mother tongue. Not to mention, the Articles 9, 21 and 30 of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, of which Ireland has been among the signatories since 1992, explicitly recognises the importance of a sign language with regard to the accessibility, freedom of expression, the participation in the cultural life of a Deaf or Hard of Hearing person. Thus, recognising Irish Sign Language as a third official language of the State would render the society far more equal than it is now. Ireland is our home and there's no place like home! Extend our arms to our fellow citizens using Irish Sign Language in their homes.

Ireland's 1993 Commission on the Rights of People with Disabilities made a statement that sadly still rings true today: "People with disabilities are the neglected citizens of Ireland... [but] they want, and are entitled to, equality and full participation as citizens." In 2016 we’re still waiting to see full equality on our public transport systems. This is especially true of DART services, which are riddled with accessibility problems. But it's time for us to say enough is enough. The Disability Federation of Ireland estimates that there are over 160,000 people with a disability in the Dublin area. On top of having to cope with various medical conditions, that's 160,000 potential DART-users relying on - lifts that are often out of order - platform ramps onto the train that don't work or don't exist - live travel information that is inaccurate or inaccessible - trained station assistants who aren't available in all stations Each of these factors makes even the most basic journeys a headache to organise, and sometimes impossible! But all of these issues could be easily fixed if the government made them a priority. Let's raise our voice for disability rights now. Call on the government to fix these issues and make DART services fully accessible for people with a disability. Disability Rights Now is a People Before Profit campaign chaired by Richard Boyd Barrett and based on the feedback of local disability rights activists in the Dun Laoghaire area.

We all have a right to adequate access to drinking water. The UN has told the Irish state that according to international human rights law, all levels of government are under an obligation to provide urgent measures, including financial assistance, to ensure access to affordable housing, and essential levels of drinking water and sanitation services.

Only 13% of Travellers complete formal education in comparison with 92% of the general population. 7 out of 10 Traveller children live in families where their mother has no formal education or primary level education only. By refusing Paddy entry to secondary school the message is being sent to all Traveller children that they are not wanted. His parents can not read or write - they didn't understand that there was a cut off point. Being refused entry will have a terrible effect on his live and future prospects. http://www.rte.ie/news/2016/0829/812760-traveller-school/

The decisions that in amateur sport of boxing are making a mockery of the sport. How can one country appoint 7 of its own members into a committee into a ruling body and then make a decision that no boxer can make inquiry into the decision that has been made. Just look at the decisions that were made in the so called fair Olympics. A complete mockery of boxing is going on and has to be stopped before amateur boxing is destroyed.

Ireland has the capacity and resources to offer hundreds of unaccompanied children refuge. We have one of the strongest care systems in Europe to deal with unaccompanied minors and therefore, the potential to offer these children homes, a sense of community, support and a future (3).

Thanks to anti-apartheid activism by Mary Robinson and others, in the 1980s Trinity College ended research ties with South African universities until equality was introduced and human rights were respected in that country. Now, in 2016, ordinary Palestinians face discrimination and upheaval from Israel on a constant basis. Speaking in July about the devastation inflicted on Gaza, outgoing UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon described Israel's policies against the Palestinian people as collective punishment. The situation for ordinary Arab families living in Israel and Palestine is heartbreaking! But we can take a stand for Palestinian rights. TCD's research partners in Israel in the past have included the weapons manufacturer Elbit Security Systems and The Israeli Security and Counter-Terrorism Academy. Today, Trinity's strongest links are with the Weizmann Institute of Science and the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, which has built part of its campus on illegal settlement lands. It's time to take a stand for Palestine! Mary Robinson is a champion of global justice, but she's also the Chancellor of TCD, University of Dublin. Call on her to bring an end to research ties between TCD and Israel until the human rights of Palestinians are respected.

The people of this community have the lowest density of green space in the state. The council refuse to discuss their plans for the site and intend to sell the land to developers. They are threatening to close a Community Garden which is thriving by delaying the allocation of allotments to residents of the Community that have applied. The area is socially deprived and has .7 % of green space per resident when the World Health Organisation recommends 9% per resident pet community.