Young Fine Gael notes the recent comments on the Mercosur Trade Deal by An Tánaiste, Leo Varadkar, that “it would be wrong to ask Irish farmers to embrace stringent measures, on the one hand, while significant damage continues to be inflicted on the Amazon”. He also stated that he has “raised this matter at EU … Continued
Young Fine Gael is calling on the Government to repeal the young-employee sub-rates, which are contained in the National Minimum Wage Act 2000, and that the full Minimum Wage should be granted to young workers. At present, the National Minimum Wage is €10.10 per hour. However, Sections 14(a) and 15 of the Act provides that … Continued
Young Fine Gael and Fine Gael LGBT have both welcomed the restoration of the Gender Recognition (Amendment Bill) 2017 and the Prohibition of Conversion Therapies Bill 2018 to the Order Paper of Seanad Éireann. These bills had lapsed at the dissolution of both Houses of the Oireachtas earlier this year. They will both now resume … Continued
Young Fine Gael is calling for the charging of VAT on condoms and menstrual cups to be abolished at the upcoming Budget. The organisation believes that the scrapping of this tax would constitute a majorly progressive step forward for Irish health policy. Director of Policy and YFG Vice-President, Garry O’Sullivan, has said: “At present, condoms … Continued
Young Fine Gael is calling for an end to the current costings of the Green Certificate, which provides students with the requirements of a qualified farmer for the purposes of Revenue and Departmental-linked schemes. The Green Certificate is a QQI Level-5 Certificate in Agriculture and Level-6 FETAC Specific Purpose Certificate that is offered in-person or … Continued
Young Fine Gael is calling for the Government to create an agency that would be dedicated to the promotion and development of offshore wind farms for the production of renewable energy. The Programme for Government commits to increasing Ireland’s offshore wind energy by 2030 from 3.5GW to 5GW, which is the equivalent of powering 5 … Continued
Young Fine Gael is calling for Bystander Intervention Programmes to be expanded to all Irish third-level institutions. The organisation believes this is a much needed and timely proposal, following a number of reported incidents of sexual harassment and sexual violence in universities in recent times. In 2017, a Bystander Intervention Programme was developed and piloted … Continued
Young Fine Gael is calling for the Government to increase investment in employment for people with a disability. Currently, Ireland has one of the lowest employment rates of people with disabilities. Only 26% of people with a disability are employed here compared to the European average of 48%. In order to increase employment, we are calling … Continued
Young Fine Gael is calling current restrictions on building heights to be reformed to allow for higher-builds in our cities. Current height restrictions have resulted in urban sprawl, which has further increased the demand for land and raised property prices in our cities. YFG believes that height restrictions should be expanded to at least 10 … Continued
Young Fine Gael is calling for the introduction of ride-sharing services in Ireland. While the organisation welcomes the Programme for Government’s commitment to introducing a pilot-scheme for ride-sharing services, YFG believes that this should be expedited so that licenses can be granted to services such as Uber and Lyft, provided measures are in place to … Continued