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

Kanturk is a rural community already deprived of basic services. With below standard internet connectivity this decision by AIB, who claim that their decision is a response to digital usage, is a devastating blow to our rural community. Our rural businesses will struggle as a direct result of the withdrawal of cash services from AIB, Kanturk. The removal of cash services will mean we will no longer have access to cash or cheque services at the counter OR through the machines inside the branch. We are community already with limited garda availability and this decision by AIB raises serious security concerns for business and the public, particularly our elderly. We can not allow the erosion of an already deprived area to continue.

Hot weather can make work unbearable and with record temperatures likely to be a trend in Ireland, we should introduce a statutory maximum working temperature after which employees are sent home.

In March 2022 former Minister for Infrastructure Nichola Mallon refused permission for the planning application for a mechanical biological treatment (MBT) facility and waste incinerator at Hightown Quarry, beside North Belfast. The planning decision was made following over 5,000 objections submitted by the local community, and a wide range of political representatives from MPs to Councillors. It will increase the market for waste disposal and discourage recycling. Waste technology, waste composition and recycling policies had all moved on since the project was first conceived 15 years ago, and it should be abandoned once and for all - not blindly pursued with public money. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-60893249 The planning refusal followed a long running campaign by the No-Arc21 group who represent residents around the Mallusk, North Belfast and South Antrim areas, who are opposed to the controversial project. This planning application was refused by a previous Environment Minister Mark Durkan, and successfully challenged in the Courts by No- Arc21. There is comprehensive and widespread political opposition to the project from all political Parties in South Antrim and beyond. Alternative do exist and if this Incinerator goes ahead it will reduce recycling and result in millions of tonnes of CO2 being emitted and accelerating climate change. This challenge is a flagrant waste of public money and resources can be better targeted to increase recycling to 70% by 2030 as per the Climate Change targets on Waste Management. During the current inflationary pressures that many households and workers are facing at present, councils should not be wasting more money on a legal case which questions local Ministerial powers to make such decisions. Over £20 million has been spent on the "Waste Monster" to date, how many pot holes, hospital beds, pay rises for key workers etc. could have been sorted in the over eight years of this white elephant. Bin the Burner

Using Afrikaans to verify citizenship is racist, ignorant and insulting.

Dublin Airport is the main airport in Ireland. We need to be able to rely on the service for work and pleasure.

New Look staff in Strabane, some with over twenty years service, are being forced into redundancy by a senseless Lidl relocation from Bradley Way to Strabane Retail Park. It will bring ten new jobs but will cost up to sixty job losses. Strabane is an area of high social and economic deprivation and these potential job losses will be a disaster for a town with historically high unemployment. Four retail units will close to facilitate this Lidl development and relocation (New Look, Menarys, Peacocks, Argos). Strabane Workers Together are highlighting this redundancy injustice and are calling on all four aforementioned employers to relocate within Strabane.

Ukraine's national debt is €120 billion, that's almost 80% of their GDP. They are spending €6bn a year just servicing this debt, and have had years of austerity measures pushed as a result. This is illegitimate debt, built up due to the oligarchisation of society, the failure to tax the rich and currently increasing rapidly due to the brutal Russian invasion. Now a growing international movement is demanding this debt be cancelled. Given our own history, Irish people should be at the forefront in demanding the the cancellation of this odious debt.

Psychology graduates who wish to become professional practicing psychologists are met with a number of barriers. Firstly, there are not enough programs for these students. Secondly, for those who are lucky enough to find a program, it is close to impossible to fund it. Currently, trainee educational and counselling psychologists must self-fund their doctoral program and pay up to €14,000 per year in college tuition fees. Thirdly, when this has been brought to the Government of Ireland it has not been heard and these issues have not been addressed.

1. A State construction company would divert scarce skilled construction labour to building projects where it is urgently required. In the midst of a national housing crisis, just over a quarter (26.6%) of Irish construction workers are actually building residential homes. Many are building hotels and offices. 2. We cannot rely on the private sector to provide affordable housing and social housing because this does not align with the business interests of ‘for-profit’ private housing developers. 3. A State construction company would attract more young people toward pursuing a career in construction by offering quality permanent employment and better pay and working conditions. There is currently a shortage of skilled construction workers, we urgently need to attract more young people to pursue a career in construction in order to meet Housing for All building targets. 4. Statistics show it is considerably cheaper for local authorities to directly build social and affordable houses than to buy completed units from private for-profit developers. https://www.irishexaminer.com/opinion/commentanalysis/arid-40744002.html?msclkid=433241c3b3b911ec927ed3f61cdce8d4

In 2019 all references to 'Human Rights' were removed from CORU’s Code of Professional Conduct & Ethics for Social Work, the legally binding document which governs Social Work practice in Ireland, and which Social Workers must adhere to. No explanation has been provided by CORU for the removal of human rights from the code. CORU’s previous 2011 Social Work Code contained six separate references to ‘Human Rights’, recognising its fundamental nature to the Social Work profession. The foreword to the 2011 Code noted: “Social Work is a profession based on principles of Human-Rights and Social Justice”. In 2021 the membership of the Irish Association of Social Workers (IASW) voted overwhelmingly in favour of initiating a campaign to have the term Human Rights reinstated to the Code. This petition forms part of that campaign, please support us. Advocating and upholding Human Rights and social justice is a core Social Work value. The International Federation of Social Workers’ (IFSW) 2014 Global Definition of Social Work states: "Principles of social justice, human rights, collective responsibility and respect for diversities are central to Social Work". The IFSW’s definition is a beacon to Social Work practitioners across the world, many of whom tenaciously hold onto the values embodied in this definition. This definition has been adopted globally, including by the IASW, and has been translated into 28 languages. Human Rights feature centrally in the Codes of Ethics of Social Work organisations in countries across the world, including England, Australia, Aotearoa New Zealand, Canada, Finland, Japan, and South Korea. The Australian Association of Social Workers Code of Ethics refers to Human Rights thirteen times. Similarly, the British Association of Social Work (BASW) Code of Ethics for Social Work features Human Rights a total of twelve times in its 15-pages. Removing the phrase ‘Human Rights’ from the Code effectively alters the narrative and meaning of Social Work, and has implications for how we, as Social Workers, both individually and collectively, understand, frame and practice our profession. It is imperative that Human Rights is included within CORU’s Code of Professional Conduct and Ethics for Social Work in Ireland. We call on CORU to reinstate all references to ‘Human Rights’ from the 2011 Code to the current Code of Professional Conduct and Ethics for Social Work. For more information: https://twitter.com/SWs4Change