Learners of Streetwise Brothers of Charity & all Clonroad Campus Users: We the undersigned, are concerned citizens who urge our Representatives to act now to: Provide a safe, accessible route in/out of Clonroad Campus, so that all users can reach Ennis town safely.

Bodyke NS Board of Management and Parents Association wish to highlight concerns about safety on the public road in the vicinity of our local school. There is great concern for the safety of children being dropped off and collected at the school and the hope is that a solution can be found before there is a serious accident.

Our childcare model is broken. As a country we spend more subsidising animals than we do helping families afford childcare. Low and what is called 'high' income families suffer as well as childcare workers on meager earnings. Good policies can fix that

In the wake of climate catastrophe Hurricane Ophelia, Denis Naughten needs to stop derailing the climate targets of the whole EU by pushing for loopholes

In the wake of the cervical smear crisis that are continuing to emerge, only now is a mandatory legal requirement for doctors to be more open after such an adverse health care event. Now, the Civil Liability (Amendment) Act 2017 which has not even commenced, supposedly introduces a VOLUNTARY requirement for health service providers to be open with patients who are involved in such horrendous incidents as the cervical smear crisis. How can a patient develop an environment of trust if the proposed legislation is to facilitate an apology if in the correct form cannot be used as evidence in any subsequent legal or professional proceedings ? The supposed rationale behind this legislation is to normalise “saying sorry” and to build trust between the doctor and patient, and reduce litigation. The real problem is that the HSE at present are hugely more accountable to the High Court than to a patient, who could be any one of us. Accountability is what is searingly lacking. The concept of open disclosure has been bandied about in Ireland before. The Medical Council ethical guidelines states that patients are entitled to honest, open and prompt communication about adverse incidents that have caused harm and that doctors “should” acknowledge the event, explain how it happened, apologise if appropriate, and assure the patient and family that the cause should be investigated. These are only guide lines and use the word “should” instead of “must”. Which means that open disclosure is not an absolute professional duty and doctors who have already misdiagnosed or have played a part in an adverse incident can now use their own judgement in relation to communication of about misdiagnosis or anything else that went wrong during treatment. Self regulation, again I fear. The HSE also introduced guidelines on open disclosure in 2013. This Act defines an apology as an “expression of sympathy or regret”. Apologies in a prescribed format will be considered as inadmissible in any proceedings. The form of the apology is not set out in the legislation. This I fear could facilitate doctors who confident of the legal status of their apology offer the “I'm sorry you feel that way” non apology. The UK statutory Duty of Candour makes the disclosure of a patient safety incident and the requirement to offer an apology a MANDATORY legal obligation and a failure to comply is a criminal offence and is punishable by a fine for the relevant organisation. Ireland should introduce a mandatory duty of candour but also greater openness by engendering a cultural shift by way of education, training, focused support for the overworked doctors and nurses who are dedicated and committed but under resourced to manage a a highly overloaded health care system. Any legislation must provide clarity of process for mandatory disclosure. This must elucidate what is required by patients and practitioners. Also, there must be a willingness to at a political and organisational level to ensure that any process of disclosure is not treated as a box ticking exercise to simply meet the legislative requirements. This can only be accomplished if the relevant support is provided for medical practitioners through continuous education and training on open disclosure. It is in all our interest to have a more accountable health service in Ireland. Doctors differ unfortunately.

I want all coffee shoos to start using sustainable coffee paper cups. Legislation should also be introduced to make coffee shops sell only sustainable cups and support for a bring your own cup policy would help.

Please use St Brigid's Day as new bank holiday. Most well know female Irish saint. Already marked in schools and society, very timely and apt for covid

Thankfully the era in which the Catholic Church had the naming rights to every new housing estate, school and park is behind us. Let's not take a backwards step by allowing the proposed new Public Holiday to be named for another Catholic icon, St. Brigid. Perhaps this new holiday allows us to set aside a day on which we can remember all those who suffered in Magdalen Laundries, industrial schools and Mother and Baby homes.

Tramore urgently needs a community theatre, as the largest town in the county, this is an unacceptable gap in the cultural infrastructure for it's residents.

We, the undersigned, call on the Government of Ireland to urgently reform the maternity and childcare system in our country. The current model is failing the hardworking women of Ireland and pushing families into financial stress during one of the most vulnerable periods of their lives. This petition is born from the real and lived experience of one woman—but it reflects the shared struggle of thousands. Women across Ireland are: • Penalised for becoming mothers, with no financial support during the final 16 weeks of maternity leave. • Unable to access childcare for infants under 12 months old, forcing them into unpaid leave or out of the workforce. • Burdened by rising costs and flat-rate maternity benefits that bear no relation to income or tax contributions. • Losing pension contributions and benefits during leave—widening the gender gap the government claims to fight. The system disproportionately affects women who work, pay tax, and contribute consistently—those who are left unsupported at the most critical time. We demand real action: 1. Fair Maternity Benefit – Introduce income-based or contribution-based supports to ensure maternity leave reflects the real cost of living. 2. State-Supported Extended Leave – Provide financial support for the additional 16 weeks of maternity leave to allow mothers to care for their children until childcare is available. 3. Accessible Childcare – Tackle the childcare crisis with serious investment, better regulation, and incentives to expand infant care availability. 4. Protect Pensions & Health Coverage – Ensure women are not financially penalised for taking time to raise their children. 5. Real Gender Equality – Implement maternity and parental leave policies that reflect the reality of working mothers, not just broad equality targets. Ireland is a developed nation, an economic hub, and a proud democracy. Yet it continues to leave behind the very people who keep it running—working women. No woman should face mortgage arrears, debt, or the impossible choice between financial survival and staying home with her child. We urge you to listen. We urge you to act. Sign this petition to stand with the women of Ireland. This is not just a personal problem—it’s a systemic failure. It punishes women for becoming mothers. It forces them to choose between their careers and their children. It worsens Ireland’s gender pay and pension gaps. And it discourages working families from growing, putting long-term strain on our society and economy. At a time when Ireland claims to champion gender equality, this issue must be addressed. Real equality is not just about gender pay gap reports or representation targets. It’s about practical, lived support for women—especially when they are doing the essential work of raising the next generation. By signing this petition, you are demanding that the government: • Acknowledge this broken system. • Provide proper supports to working mothers. • Make child-rearing a right, not a financial risk. This is a call for fairness. For dignity. For real change. Let’s fix this—for every mother, every family, and every child in Ireland.