Liz Truss is promising to act quickly on energy prices, but because the energy market in Northern Ireland is so different it’s far from certain what that will mean for us. The National Institute of Economic and Social Research has predicted that Northern Ireland could experience a 67% increase in extreme poverty, the highest in the UK by far. And with 66% of homes here using home-heating oil as their fuel source, as opposed to 5% in England, Scotland and Wales, we’re going to need a solution tailored to our needs.

We simply cannot afford to pay for this work, particularly at this time of soaring prices. The government has received a report from the Working Group to Examine Defects in Housing which outlines the scale of the problem. It contains different options for the government to decide how to deal with this issue. One of those options is a 100% redress scheme. This is the only just and workable option. We are calling on the government to agree to implement a 100% redress scheme and to then pursue the builders responsible for this crisis.

Recent high-profile assaults on referees have shown us that our national sports have a problem. Referees will not continue to turn up to our matches if they are not treated with respect and fair play. That's why we're calling for a national strategy to tackle this problem by making it clear that people who behave aggressively or inappropriately towards referees have no place in our games.

The new public sector pay deal negotiated by the Government will result in TD’s salaries rising more than €6,500 making their salary nearly €108,000 a year. In the middle of the worst cost of living crisis to face this country, TD’s should not be handed more money, while families face the choice of putting food on the table or paying for light and heat. We, the undersigned, call on the Government to exempt TD’s from the pay rises in the public sector pay deal.

Due to the unprecedented rise in prices ie; heating oil/ fuel diesel/petrol/ groceries etc; us pensioners are put in a very precarious situation of hardship which is getting worse each day. it is becoming harder and harder to make ends meet, and no letup. Pensioners must stand together and make the government see the seriousness of our plight

At a time when we need to be pulling out all the stops to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and prevent the worst climate change scenarios, it is very misleading and confusing to audiences to hear people with climate denier agendas espousing policies that will instead dig us deeper into the climate crisis. The Chairman of companies Clontarf Energy Plc and Petrel Resources, Mr David Horgan, is an example. Between them, these two companies are involved in oil and gas exploration in Ireland, Iraq, Ghana and Chad. Mr Horgan has signed the world "There is no Climate Emergency" declaration (part of a project by Clintel - a lobby group funded by two Dutch millionaires) yet on 27th August he was on Newstalk's Anton Savage show to discuss "Tackling the Energy Crisis & Budget 2023 Look Ahead". In fact, he is regularly given spots on RTE, Newstalk, Today FM and Radio Nova to espouse views which no doubt stand to improve the market for fossil fuels which his companies profit from. Photo credit: Fringer Cat @nittygritty_photo

Justice for those long neglected by the state

Schools open this week but thousands of students have been left stranded - because the Dept of Education has failed to organise enough buses. Norma Foley is spinning a story that this is a new problem - but we all know that every year there are never enough school bus places for everyone who needs them. Parents are scrambling to find ways to get their children to school on time. Many will be forced to take time off work, pay for taxis, juggle already stressful days. We need to make sure school children can get to school.

This group of students were led to believe that their DBS courses would receive CORU accreditation. Many have taken out loans, given up jobs, did hundreds of hours of unpaid work, spent long hours writing assignments etc. in the belief that they would get a qualification that would enable them to work as Registered Social Care Workers. DBS's course didn't make the grade and the students are the ones who are made to suffer. No offer of refunds or any solutions from DBS. This is a major injustice.

I believe people should join because the breeding of puppies in very poor Conditions, where dogs (bitches) are bred multiple times is shocking. Irish people are animal lovers&abhor this practice.

The HSE have received a recommendation to restrict the option of homebirth, under the HSE Home Birth Scheme, to women giving birth no further than 30 minutes from a maternity hospital. This is not backed by any research concluding that women are at a greater risk outside this parameter. Women should be guaranteed the right to choose their place of birth. Placing a restriction on homebirth, by limiting its availability to those who live less than 30 minutes from a maternity hospital, denies more than 20% of expectant mothers the right to this choice. This percentage is also a conservative figure and could actually be much higher. The current application form for the HSE homebirth service outlines the procedure for safe and timely transfer to hospital, if required, making special reference to women in 'remote' areas. These guidelines are backed by evidence based studies and so, no change should be made to these guidelines, which would result in the violation of a woman's right to choice, without extensive research. It is also important to note that women availing of the home birth scheme must meet a strict set of criteria and only women who are deemed low risk, by an obstetrician, can avail of this service. It is feared that by limiting the option of homebirth to a large number of expectant mothers, there will be an increase in the number of "free-births" (births without a professional midwife present). Furthermore, homebirth in Ireland is also provided by Private Midwives Ireland, as well as the HSE. If the provision of a public homebirth scheme continues to be restricted, this means that it will be families on lower incomes - those without private health care or the means to pay a private midwife - that will be affected by these restrictions. Lastly, the publishing of these recommendations perpetuate the fear surrounding birth in our society, leading to connotations that birth is something that consistently leads to medical emergencies, rather than something that is a physiologically natural process, without the need for medical intervention, for the majority of women. Women deserve the right to choose the kind of birth they want. Women need to be given the autonomy and trust to make this choice based on accurate and evidence based information. We also need to have confidence in our community midwives, the professionals who, with their extensive training and experience, know exactly how to keep a woman safe during homebirth.

The climate crisis is accelerating rapidly with droughts, wild fires, heat waves and flooding appearing in the news more and more frequently. It is crystal clear that action on the climate crisis is extremely urgent. Ireland has passed into law a climate bill that includes the target of a 51% reduction in emissions by 2030 which will be outlined in the Carbon Budgets. In order to achieve this ambitious target massive changes to the economy and how the country functions will be necessary. The Irish public is woefully under-prepared for the transition which will need to take place. In the past the Irish Government has run campaigns to build awareness among Irish citizens in matters of public safety such as the covid-19 campaign ( gov.ie - COVID-19 (Coronavirus) (www.gov.ie) and the road safety campaign ( Ireland’s Government Road Safety Strategy 2021 - 2030 (rsa.ie). Climate change is a matter that will impact the safety of all Irish Citizens. A public awareness campaign on the climate crisis is desperately needed. At a minimum the climate awareness campaign should include the following topics. • The science of climate change, how gases such as Carbon dioxide, Methane and Nitrous oxide are warming our atmosphere and the sources of such gases. • Information on how these impacts will affect us including food security, water scarcity, increased frequency of drought, fires, flooding and storms, coastal erosion, pandemics and sea level rise. • Tipping points in the climate system which could accelerate climate change if we don’t act quickly enough. • Build awareness around a 1.5 degree global temperature rise and what it means compared to 2 degree temperature rise. • Information on what’s driving climate change including our reliance on fossil fuels, consumption choices, farming systems, diets and destruction of the natural world. • Information about how natural systems are under threat and how deeply we are reliant on the natural world; as healthy habitats and species are fundamental to and deeply intertwined with our own health and wellbeing. • Information about nature based solutions, such as re-wilding, rewetting bogs, slowing water down in catchments, planting continuous cover native forests. The campaign should be endorsed by respected scientists and overseen by the Climate Change Advisory Council. Finally, people are feeling powerless in the face of the catastrophe ahead. Collectively we need to push past the denial or cognitive dissonance which has paralysed us, into a place where we actively engage with the issue. The public need clear leadership from the government on the Climate Crisis. Please sign this petition and join us in urging the government to develop the climate awareness campaign that we so desperately need.