People Before Profit TD says Varadkar’s RIC commemoration comments unbecoming of an Irish Taoiseach

People Before Profit TD Bríd Smith has said that the comments by Leo Varadkar about commemorations of the RIC that he is ‘disappointed to hear that some people are going to boycott the event were “unbecoming of a Taoiseach and shows a nonchalant attitude to the brutality of imperialist rule in Ireland and it shows the government’s hostility to all struggles, even the one that created the Irish State”.Read more »

Media Release- Bríd Smith TD, People Before Profit    12/11/2018

Request follows PAC committee hearing that reveals HSE reviewed the cases of the 221 women at the centre of crisis

“This information should be public and is the least the family of Julie O’Reilly and other women deserve,” says TD

People Before Profit TD Bríd Smith has formally complained to the Dáil’s Ceann Comhairle over the repeated refusal of the HSE and the Health Minister to answer a question on the cervical check scandal.

The TD has claimed that since May she has repeatedly asked the HSE to list the laboratories from which the 221 negligently misread slides came from. The question has never been answered despite assurances from ex HSE boss Tony O’Brien that it would be.Read more »

Media Release- Bríd Smith TD, People Before Profit, 06/11/2018

Bills benefits would far outweigh any costs says Brid Smith TD

People Before Profit TD Bríd Smith has labelled an Oireachtas report on the proposed bill to ban exploration for oil and gas as “pure fantasy” based on “pretty flimsy economic grounds”.

The research explicitly excluded looking at any economic benefits of the ban while much of its figures are based on “what if” scenarios that speculate on some find in the future.Read more »

Press Release 31.10.18

Brid Smith TD has described as extremely worrying comments from Sean Canney while addressing delegates at the Atlantic Ireland exploration conference in Dublin.

The Minister effectively pledged Government support for future exploration for gas and oil in Ireland. He criticised a proposed Bill from Brid Smith of People before Profit that would ban future licencing for exploration saying it would do nothing to reduce Irelands emissions.Read more »

 

PRESS RELEASE – August 24, 2018

The review of Search and Rescue service, commissioned by Transport Minister Shane Ross in the wake of the R116 helicopter crash in April 2017, yet to be published, appears to indicate “serious confusion and conflict of interest” at the heart of the Irish Aviation Authority (IAA) operations.

The Review did not directly examine the circumstances of the crash that led to the loss of four rescuers off the County Mayo coast, but according to Brid Smith TD, (People Before Profit, Dublin South Central)  “the outcome of the review could possibly guide any investigation into the crash as to what may have gone wrong”.

The IAA is mandated as a commercial entity and has a corporate structure and this appears to conflict with its remit for safety regulatory oversight functions.Read more »

Prese Release   No Embargo;

Ryanair sackings are attempt intimidate staff in union dispute

TD claims Spanish dismissals show Ryanair contempt for its workers.
 
Bully boy tactics will not defeat Ryanair workers” says Brid Smith TD.
The dismissal of four cabin crew at Ryanair in Spain has been slammed by Brid Smith TD as another example of the real intent of Ryanair’s management in the ongoing dispute with its workforce.
Deputy Smith rejected the company’s justification of the sackings and said fatigue and overworking are real issues at the  airline and workers should have a legal entitlement to refuse to operate outside the hours they are contracted to work.
These sackings highlight the core issues at the heart of the pilots dispute; its about workers having some security and control over the hours and shifts they work; its a basic trade union issue and this fits a pattern where Ryanair attempt to browbeat and bully its workers”Read more »

 
Serious questions raised on Harris’ actions in several high profile cases whilst in the PSNI
Press Release
People before Profit TD Brid Smith called on Justice Minister Charlie Flanagan to postpone the appointment of Drew Harris as Garda Commissioner until serious questions on his role in a number of high profile cases in the North are answered.
Deputy Smith told the Dail today that Stephen Travers, the only survivor of the Miami Showband massacre, and Eugene Reavey, whose three brothers were also killed by the so called Glenane gang, were in the Dail to listen to the debate. “They desperately want the minister to postpone the appointment until Drew Harris answers questions they have in relation to the murder of their loved ones and the allegations of state collusion in them” said deputy Smith.
The TD also invited the Justice Minister and Drew Harris to meet with survivors and relatives at an event to commemorate the 43rd anniversary of the show band massacre later this month.

Read more »

Historic Opportunity for Dáil to take lead on fighting climate change

The Oireachtas Committee on Communications Climate Action and Environment will today scrutinise the Petroleum and Other Minerals Development (Amendment) (Climate Emergency Measures) Bill 2018 at 3pm.

The Bill brought forward by People Before Profit TD Bríd Smith would ban the issuing of any licences for fossil fuel exploration whilst levels of carbon dioxide is above 350 parts per million (it is currently at 411 parts per million).

The Committee over two sittings today and on the 10th of July will hear testimony from Officials from the Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment, Irish Operators Offshore Association, IBEC, Dr Amanda Slevin- Queen’s University and Emeritus Professor John Sweeney.Read more »

Press Release- Bríd Smith TD, People Before Profit       01/07/2018

Bill will be scrutinised at the Committee on Communications, Climate Action and Environment on Tuesday

Bill would ban the issuing of new licences for fossil fuel exploration

People Before Profit TD Bríd Smith has called on the parties in the Dáil to support her Petroleum and Other Minerals Development (Amendment) (Climate Emergency Measures) Bill 2018 as it goes to committee stage this Tuesday.

The TD was speaking at a ‘Keep it in the Ground’ banner drop at the Wooden Bridge on Bull Island.

People Before Profit we joined by climate campaigners Not Here, Not Anywhere and Stop Climate Chaos at the unveiling of the banner.Read more »

Press Release

Harris has been widely criticised by victims groups of state/loyalist violence
Bríd Smith TD  of People Before Profit has called on the Government to withdraw the appointment of Drew Harris as the Garda Commissioner, calling the appointment an insult to all victims of state collusion with loyalist violence.
Mr Harris has been widely criticised by families who have been affected by state/loyalist violence in Northern Ireland.
Bríd Smith TD said: “We oppose the appointment of Drew Harris to the position of Garda Commissioner because of the very serious allegations of obstructing the search for truth and justice in regard to state and loyalist violence in the North.”

Read more »