Results 2,721-2,740 of 4,037 for speaker:Jennifer Whitmore

Written Answers — Department of Health: Disability Services (8 Mar 2023)

Jennifer Whitmore: 206. To ask the Minister for Health if he will provide an update on provision for a neuro-rehabilitation unit in CHO7; where that unit will be based; the roles that have been provided funding within the service: when the service will be operational; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [11659/23]

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Sustainable Development Goals: Discussion (21 Mar 2023)

Jennifer Whitmore: I thank all of our guests for their presentations. From listening to the witnesses and reading through their documents, there is a focus on what individuals can do. We have quite a focus on this aspect in Ireland because everyone wants to do their bit. I wonder if there is too much of a focus on this approach. In reality, when we talk about retrofitting, we are not meeting these targets....

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Sustainable Development Goals: Discussion (21 Mar 2023)

Jennifer Whitmore: I thank the witnesses for their presentation. I am reading through their opening statement, and when they talk about the different SDGs, targets and key developments the Department has worked on, the key developments seem to be very much plan based. It is all about the draft clean air Act, the waste plan for a circular economy and the national smart metering programme. It is very much the...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Sustainable Development Goals: Discussion (21 Mar 2023)

Jennifer Whitmore: Just on that, if are just using that example, with the smart metering programme, essentially Ms Gilmartin is saying those policy teams do not need to wait for those different governance structures. Is that currently being reviewed, because I believe it is one that is not working?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Sustainable Development Goals: Discussion (21 Mar 2023)

Jennifer Whitmore: Yes. It is about the number of different mechanisms. If the witnesses are saying the key developments in relation to the SDGs from the departmental perspective are programmes like this, it should not be the programmes that are key developments. It should be the tangible measures and actions on the ground. This is where I am coming from.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Sustainable Development Goals: Discussion (21 Mar 2023)

Jennifer Whitmore: Perhaps we can stick with that one, because it is a good example. There is no need for the CSO to report on that one because the indicators are clear that it is not working. Is there a mechanism for that to be updated and that policy reviewed without waiting for the CSO to report back? How does that work? I would at one stage have been very much in the witnesses' role. I would have been...

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (22 Mar 2023)

Jennifer Whitmore: This morning, I was at a briefing from the Society of St. Vincent de Paul at which the speakers talked about energy poverty and expressed their concerns about what is going to happen to people regarding the high costs of energy. They said that over the course of the past year, the organisation had 230,000 requests of help, including 1,200 a day in December. I would imagine that for those...

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (22 Mar 2023)

Jennifer Whitmore: This is less than the amount we are expecting in respect of the windfall tax.

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.