Shane has exposed multiple Health scandals and should be protected not punished. Ireland has just legislated for further protections for Whistleblowers, but Department of Health has refused to investigate Shane's multiple Protected DIsclosures

Endometriosis affects 200 million people worldwide and yet there's only 200 specialists globally to perform effective excision surgery. Every single day patients are suffering debilitating chronic pain, extreme fatigue and a variety of horrific symptoms which leaves us with zero quality of life. Our economy suffers because we are unable to work. In the UK endometriosis costs the economy £8.2bn a year in treatment, loss of work and healthcare costs. A note from the organiser below. A chara, We invite you to join us for the Irish EndoMarch 2023 on Sunday 26th March. This event is part of the global EndoMarch movement, aimed at raising awareness about endometriosis, its associated issues, and creating a supportive community for those affected. Endometriosis has a significant impact on the lives of women in Ireland, and more needs to be done to improve diagnosis, treatment, and support for those affected by the condition. A dedicated multidisciplinary centre is required to improve care for those living with endometriosis in Ireland. Improved Diagnosis: A multidisciplinary centre would assemble an expert group from diverse backgrounds, encompassing gynaecologists, radiologists, pain management specialists, pelvic physiotherapists, and surgeons. This collaboration would result in a precise identification of endometriosis, leading to a prompt and accurate diagnosis for patients and reducing the requirement for multiple surgeries and procedures. In Ireland, the delay to diagnosis is an average of 9 years. Coordinated Care: A multidisciplinary centre would allow for seamless coordination of care, with all members of the team working together to develop and implement a comprehensive treatment plan. This would minimise the current issues faced by those with endometriosis and reduce the risk of miscommunication, ensuring that patients receive the best possible care. At present, women are left to source individual care providers with no standardised model of care. Access to Expertise: A multidisciplinary centre would bring together a team of specialists with a wealth of experience and expertise in endometriosis. Patients would have access to the latest treatments and technologies, as well as the expertise of specialists who are up-to-date on the latest research and developments in the field. It would also allow for Irish research teams to recruit participants and generate new research potential. Improved Quality of Life: A multidisciplinary centre would provide a comprehensive approach to care, including pain management and support for emotional and psychological well-being. This would help to improve the quality of life for patients with endometriosis, reducing the impact of the condition on their daily lives. It would reduce the delay to diagnosis, reduce the need for women to travel outside of Ireland for treatment and improve not only the health outcomes, but also the fertility outcomes of those availing of the services. It is imperative for both the medical community and society as a whole to give endometriosis the attention it deserves. It is crucial to listen to the experiences of individuals living with endometriosis in Ireland and to have faith in women's accounts. Whether you have personal experience with endometriosis or simply want to support the cause, this event is open to everyone who is passionate about improving endometriosis health and awareness outcomes. To register for the event and for more information, please visit the EndoMarch 2023 event page on Eventbrite: https://EndoMarch2023.eventbrite.ie We hope to see you there to join us in the campaign to raise awareness about endometriosis. Sincerely, Kathleen King Team Ireland EndoMarch 2023

Society relies on trade work and to encourage uptake and retention of apprentices they need to be paid properly. Apprentices are working very long work weeks without being adequately paid, leading to apprentices dropping out and pursuing different careers

It is important that the level of anger, frustration and concern from teachers across Ireland about these changes is shared with the Minister and Department of Education so that they understand why these requirements are making it increasingly difficult for teachers to upskill, train and qualify for their EPV days entitlements and CPD certification.

Every empty house is a family made homeless. While hundreds of people have died on the streets, the government left €700 million of the housing budget unspent. There is an all-time high of 11,397 people in emergency accommodation, 3,480 are children. Vacant council homes have been left to rot. There are nearly 4,500 empty council homes across the country. We demand that all city and county councils renovate these homes and house those in need immediately.

Every minute, the Irish government is making a huge amount of money by charging people different taxes, including VAT. Currently, the VAT threshold for big companies and small businesses is €75,000 on selling products and €37,500 on providing services. When a sole trader who provides services reaches €37,500 annual turnover, they are obliged to register for VAT and start charging their clients that tax. This means the business owner has no choice but to: 1. Increase their prices by 23% and more than likely lose a number of existing and future clients. 2. Or include VAT in their current prices and substantially reduce their hard-earned income. 3. Or increase their prices slightly (by 10-12%) and still encounter the above. In the current situation, where the VAT threshold is €37,500, it is so very unfair for the hard-working small businesses in Ireland to give away their hard-earned money to the government. But it's equally unfair for their customers to pay that VAT if they can't claim it back! The VAT threshold on services must be increased to the same or at least a close value of €75,000 so that goods suppliers and service providers have an equal chance of thriving. It’s so much easier to include the whole (or almost whole) amount of VAT in the service fees when your annual turnover is €75,000 or more. Isn’t that right? The Irish government should give all companies in Ireland, including sole traders, an equal chance to get well established. In the United Kingdom, the VAT threshold is £85,000 for both goods suppliers and service providers. If this works in the UK, it will work in Ireland. So, if you agree with me, my friend, simply sign this petition and feel free to share it on social media and via email with your friends. Together, we can make it happen!

Retail workers are frontline workers, serving both the customers and supporting the various retail businesses across the sector. As we emerge from the pandemic, retail workers are demanding decency and a fair deal for retail. Join the many thousands of people who shop in Liffey Valley by demanding that your local Shop Worker in the centre doesn't have to pay these unreasonable expenses, as they continue to serve on the frontline.

Insufficient Childcare in Ireland for babies under 1 year Some mums have to switch to formula feeding after breastfeeding for 6 months as they go back to work Ireland is one of the worst countries in the EU for Maternity Leave entitlements.

People working as content moderators keep our public spaces safe online. But they are often treated terribly by their employers. Content moderators have to spend hours each day looking at the worst videos and messages on the internet from torture and child abuse, to animal cruelty and murder. They look at this content so the rest of us don’t have to. When online platforms rely on machines to do the work of real people, they make mistakes and infringe on our rights of what we’re able to say online. That’s why we’re calling for better treatment of these workers so that all of us benefit from safe online spaces. We’re calling on Facebook to: - Bring content moderation in-house and treat content moderators like regular Facebook staff - Pay their content moderators better so they are less reliant on automated content moderation - Provide them with a decent level of care, i.e. access to psychological care. - Publish its content moderations policies in a transparent manner, including the result of any findings to see if content moderation practices and policies are in line with human rights standards - Stop silencing content moderation whistleblowers who come forward detailing their experience and abuses Notes: Meta platforms like Facebook and Instagram continuously fail to detect misinformation for election ads: https://www.globalwitness.org/en/campaigns/digital-threats/facebook-fails-tackle-election-disinformation-ads-ahead-tense-brazilian-election/ There is a clear double-standard in our content moderation policies are applied - ie. under-moderated in Hebrew language, over-moderated in Arabic: https://www.thenationalnews.com/world/uk-news/2022/05/18/facebook-examines-moderation-policies-after-pressure-over-palestine-content/ Content moderators are made to work in terrible conditions, often with little to no concrete psychological support for the trauma they witness on the job: https://www.wired.co.uk/article/facebook-content-moderators-ireland Content moderators who speak up about this may be silenced: https://www.breakingnews.ie/ireland/former-facebook-content-moderator-expresses-concern-for-safety-1268117.html

A Aire Harris, a chara, We are writing as representatives from the PhDs’ Collective Action Union (PCAU) to express deep concern with the current PhD stipend scheme in light of the cost of living crisis and coming inflation, as well as to address the grave inequality created by proposing €28k PhD stipends without increasing the pay for existing PhD researchers. The PCAU officially formed 8 July 2022 after approximately 350 PhD researchers from across Ireland came together to address the increasing challenges facing PhD researchers in the current economy. We democratically selected our Union’s stance, and now are reaching out in accordance with the demands of those in our group. We maintain that the current PhD stipend is insufficient on several accounts. All of Ireland, especially Dublin, has a cost of living crisis driven by increasing rents and rising inflation. The costs are even higher for non-EU researchers, who have to pay for health insurance and residence permits each year. The Central Statistics Office (CSO) reported an approximate 9.1% inflation of prices1 in the last year, which means that the current (average) stipend of €18.5k has the same purchasing power as a €17k stipend pre-inflation, when current first-year PhD researchers accepted their roles. A recent survey conducted by leadership in SFI funded research groups2, shows that the financial burden impacting current researchers is having a real and consequential negative effect on researchers’ physical and mental health and ultimately their ability to perform research. researchers feel they are not valued, and some have expressed doubts as to the point of continuing when they could get much better-paid jobs in industry. On top of that, Ireland recently announced a plan for a new PhD programme with a stipend of €28k per year3. In addition to the current €18.5k stipend being below both living and minimum wage, it is now creating a vast inequality where current PhD researchers will be performing equal work for only 66% of the pay of new researchers. This is not acceptable. It is in the opinion of the PCAU that all PhD stipends must be increased to €28k in order to address inflation, the housing and cost of living crisis, and the new government valuation on PhD-level research as seen in their most recent PhD funding initiative. We understand that this requires a lot of change, planning, and work. Therefore, we would like to request a meeting between you and our Acting President to discuss how PhD stipends can be brought to a livable and equitable value. Please contact us so that we can arrange a date for a meeting. Is muidne, le meas, An PCAU agus a lucht tacaíochta The PCAU and its supporters Sources 1. https://www.cso.ie/en/releasesandpublications/er/cpi/consumerpriceindexjune2022/ 2. Please refer to the letter addressed to Dr Maysoun Mustafa, Scientific Programme Manager at SFI, on June 2nd, 2022. 3. https://www.gov.ie/en/press-release/1b902-taoiseach-and-minister-harris-announce-innovate-for-ireland-a-new-initiative-to-recruit-and-retain-talent/

Going cashless would gravely impact our community as a whole. There are a great deal of people that hugely rely on the cash services daily. There are many people who would negatively impact from going cashless including elderly people & people who cannot travel to other banks elsewhere. I would also affect people who are not tech savy. We do not want a cashless society

AIB is moving 70 of their branches to cashless banking. [1] Not only will going cashless mean no notes, coins, cheques, foreign exchange, bank drafts - it will remove any drop safes, night safes and ATMs outside. This is going to cause huge hardship for many people - especially older and vulnerable people, local businesses, people who don’t have access to the internet. The greed and recklessness of banks, including AIB bosses, played a crucial role in bringing about the financial crash. [2] Homes were repossessed by banks, families lost their incomes, young and not-so-young people were forced to emigrate, businesses had to close. We cannot stand by while our majority state-owned bank hurts our communities again. [1] https://www.rte.ie/news/business/2022/0719/1311026-aib-to-turn-70-branches-cashless-expand-an-post-deal/ [2] https://pai.ie/bank-bailout-costs-state-nearly-e42-billion/ https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-32516942