Results 3,261-3,280 of 4,037 for speaker:Jennifer Whitmore

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Climate Action Plan Review: Discussion (Resumed) (30 Nov 2023)

Jennifer Whitmore: Hydropower is renewable.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Climate Action Plan Review: Discussion (Resumed) (30 Nov 2023)

Jennifer Whitmore: Will the Minister communicate with the ESB in respect of that issue?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Climate Action Plan Review: Discussion (Resumed) (30 Nov 2023)

Jennifer Whitmore: Will he do so again formally?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Climate Action Plan Review: Discussion (Resumed) (30 Nov 2023)

Jennifer Whitmore: I want to flag something with the Minister. I am on the board of a rivers trust, and one of the key problems is that we have a lot of fantastic expertise but we do not have any administrative support. When you go for funding it is difficult to get any money to provide that. We have the best experts when it comes to ecology, river management and so on, but we do not have the administrative...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Climate Action Plan Review: Discussion (Resumed) (30 Nov 2023)

Jennifer Whitmore: I thank the Minister for that. In relation specifically to the direction the Minister issued to Gas Networks Ireland, GNI, that they were not to connect data centres to the gas supply, is this direction statutorily robust? Is it the case that this is now in place and there is a moratorium on-----

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Review of the Climate Action Plan 2023: Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment (7 Dec 2023)

Jennifer Whitmore: I thank the Minister for the presentation. I will raise the issue of data centres. Our position is that the Government has not been strategic enough in how they have been managed to date or will be in future. The impact of that is we have not conditioned data centres enough to play a role that is in any way sustainable in our economy or society. There has been an open door for them...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Review of the Climate Action Plan 2023: Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment (7 Dec 2023)

Jennifer Whitmore: Okay-----

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Review of the Climate Action Plan 2023: Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment (7 Dec 2023)

Jennifer Whitmore: Okay. Can I come in?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Review of the Climate Action Plan 2023: Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment (7 Dec 2023)

Jennifer Whitmore: I do not think that is correct. We have seen many data centres getting permission and being built. I think it has been relatively easy.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Review of the Climate Action Plan 2023: Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment (7 Dec 2023)

Jennifer Whitmore: We can disagree on that. The Minister said they are trying to get the balance right but I would argue that they are not getting the balance right. He talked about the Government statement on the role of data centres but there are no definitive measures in it. It stated, “The Government has a preference for data centre developments in locations" and “The Government has a...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Review of the Climate Action Plan 2023: Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment (7 Dec 2023)

Jennifer Whitmore: I am not painting it as a bad thing. What we are saying is that-----

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Review of the Climate Action Plan 2023: Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment (7 Dec 2023)

Jennifer Whitmore: No. We are saying it is not strategic enough. I would be interested for the Minister to come to Wicklow and explain to people that the 60, 70 or 80 turbines they will look out at are there primarily to provide energy for data centre storage of-----

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Review of the Climate Action Plan 2023: Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment (7 Dec 2023)

Jennifer Whitmore: Absolutely and that is no problem because we need it to decarbonise our current demand.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Review of the Climate Action Plan 2023: Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment (7 Dec 2023)

Jennifer Whitmore: For the right purpose.

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (7 Dec 2023)

Jennifer Whitmore: I have been contacted by a number of constituents in Wicklow who are unable to access GP services. They are unable to register or have lengthy waits for appointments. I did a survey in Wicklow and 70% of the GP surgeries I contacted in the area are not accepting new patients. One GP in Arklow has more than 200 people on the waiting list. Surely the fundamental principle of a health...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Climate Action Plan Review: Discussion (Resumed) (30 Nov 2023)

Jennifer Whitmore: The EPA, in its analysis in June, in which it reviewed how progress was made against the climate action plan, projected that emissions from the agriculture sector will decrease by between 4% and 20% to 2030. Based on the EPA's analysis, therefore, the maximum reduction in emissions from agriculture will be 20%, but the reduction could be anywhere between 4% and 20%. Is the Minister in...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Climate Action Plan Review: Discussion (Resumed) (30 Nov 2023)

Jennifer Whitmore: The Minister raised the issue in respect of the wind turbines.

Increased Fossil Fuel Divestment: Motion (Resumed) [Private Members] (13 Dec 2023)

Jennifer Whitmore: I acknowledge and thank Deputies Pringle, Collins and Connolly for this really important motion, and for the previous work they conducted on this in 2018. It was a landmark Act and a game-changer when it comes to Ireland taking seriously our climate actions and where investments go. What I find particularly good about this motion is that the Independent group have done what should actually...

Written Answers — Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth: Disability Services (12 Dec 2023)

Jennifer Whitmore: 712. To ask the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth if he is aware that the previously funded programme under a waiting list initiative, ‘More Than Words’, considered to be an efficient and effective outsourcing of clinical specialist skills, in the context of the disability teams inability to provide timely intervention to children, who in Wicklow...

Written Answers — Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth: Early Childhood Care and Education (14 Dec 2023)

Jennifer Whitmore: 115. To ask the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth the new core funding chart of accounts requirement for the early years sector; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [55875/23]