Results 1,261-1,280 of 4,037 for speaker:Jennifer Whitmore

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Climate Action Plan 2023: Discussion (Resumed) (23 Mar 2023)

Jennifer Whitmore: I thank the Minister for attending and for his opening statement. I want to focus on electric vehicles, EVs. In the responses to various parliamentary questions I submitted, I seem to be get different figures in this regard. What budget allocation was made in 2021 for EVs? One response to a parliamentary question states €100 million and another states €36 million. I am...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Climate Action Plan 2023: Discussion (Resumed) (23 Mar 2023)

Jennifer Whitmore: I realise it is a very specific question for the Minister.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Climate Action Plan 2023: Discussion (Resumed) (23 Mar 2023)

Jennifer Whitmore: I wish to follow up on that. I am looking at the amount of grant funding allocated. Everyone would love a new car, and most people, if they had a choice between an EV and a diesel car, would go for an EV. Most people understand this is where we need to be moving to, but new cars are very expensive. For the majority, even a modest new car is out of reach. We need to be really conscious of...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Climate Action Plan 2023: Discussion (Resumed) (23 Mar 2023)

Jennifer Whitmore: Even €50,000 is a huge amount.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Climate Action Plan 2023: Discussion (Resumed) (23 Mar 2023)

Jennifer Whitmore: I welcome that. It is important that as policies are implemented, they are reviewed and changed. They must be dynamic in the context of and reactive to what is happening. I wonder, though, with this particular policy whether the entire country is being treated in far too similar a fashion. I ask this because people in Dublin are much wealthier. If I see EVs on the roads here, they tend...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Climate Action Plan 2023: Discussion (Resumed) (23 Mar 2023)

Jennifer Whitmore: I hope I will be able to get in again, and I will talk more specifically about that aspect. On this point, though, over the last two years, some €13 million has been invested in Local Link. If we take that €13 million amount in the context of the overall rural part of the country compared with the same amount of money being provided to EV schemes, including people who can...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Climate Action Plan 2023: Discussion (Resumed) (23 Mar 2023)

Jennifer Whitmore: No, it is not pitching town against country. What needs to happen from an evidence base is to look at the situation and see where there are gaps in public infrastructure provision. We should use that evidence to say that in the absence of public transport, and hopefully we will have it there at some stage, we will provide additional support to people living in those areas. We are not...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Climate Action Plan 2023: Discussion (Resumed) (23 Mar 2023)

Jennifer Whitmore: There are plenty of geographic grant schemes provided by the Department of Social Protection. There is the CLÁR programme. This is not something that would be a departure from Government policy. There has been a recognition that there are geographic disparities when it comes to many policy areas. It would have been a good use of Government and State money to explore this matter in a...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Climate Action Plan 2023: Discussion (Resumed) (23 Mar 2023)

Jennifer Whitmore: I thank the Minister.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Climate Action Plan 2023: Discussion (Resumed) (23 Mar 2023)

Jennifer Whitmore: If you are able to spend €60,000 on a car, you are rich.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Climate Action Plan 2023: Discussion (Resumed) (23 Mar 2023)

Jennifer Whitmore: As I mentioned earlier I will now focus on rural Ireland and public transport in rural Ireland. I am a huge fan of Local Link and of Connecting Ireland. That policy is exactly where we need to be going. It is community-based, regular, efficient transport that is available to people who are living outside our major urban areas. My one criticism of it is that it is happening way too slowly...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Climate Action Plan 2023: Discussion (Resumed) (23 Mar 2023)

Jennifer Whitmore: Not in Curracloe. In Curracloe it is a seasonal service and it is there to serve the beach users.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Climate Action Plan 2023: Discussion (Resumed) (23 Mar 2023)

Jennifer Whitmore: Thank you.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Climate Action Plan 2023: Discussion (Resumed) (23 Mar 2023)

Jennifer Whitmore: I absolutely agree. The primary thing the Government has to do is put in a much larger investment into it. I think €8 million is being put into Connecting Ireland this year and, as the Minister said, Local Link is receiving €28 million. Even that is not a lot of money when one considers the benefit. The demand is there, so when the service is provided, it is absolutely...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Climate Action Plan 2023: Discussion (Resumed) (23 Mar 2023)

Jennifer Whitmore: I will be brief. I ask that the Minister take into account disability and gender in the roll-out of infrastructure. Almost every EV charging point I know of is at the back of a parking lot and is not particularly safe or accessible. The Minister does not need to respond. I am just asking that he take this concern into account. A ban on the sale of internal combustion engine, ICE, cars...

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Fishing Industry (23 Mar 2023)

Jennifer Whitmore: 368. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if the Sea Fisheries Protection Authority has raised any concerns regarding the effective monitoring and enforcement of super-trawlers whilst in Irish waters; if any discussions have been held between his Department and the SFPA in relation to same, including the provision of inspectors or observers; and if he will make a statement...

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Fishing Industry (23 Mar 2023)

Jennifer Whitmore: 369. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if he or his Department have had any discussions regarding the effective monitoring and enforcement of super-trawlers whilst in Irish waters with EU counterparts, including the provision of inspectors or observers; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [14433/23]

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Fishing Industry (23 Mar 2023)

Jennifer Whitmore: 370. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if he will make a request to the EU Council regarding the establishment of a control observer scheme, as provided for under regulation, to enable the on-board monitoring of factory vessels whilst in Irish waters; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [14434/23]

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Fishing Industry (23 Mar 2023)

Jennifer Whitmore: 371. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if he will outline the process by which a fishing vessel may be inspected by a Sea Fisheries Protection officer; whether the SFPA can request the Naval Service for such an inspection to take place; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [14435/23]

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Fishing Industry (23 Mar 2023)

Jennifer Whitmore: 372. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the number of inspections of fishing vessels that have been undertaken by the Naval Service in each of the past 20 years; the number of those vessels that were factory boats; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [14436/23]