Results 521-540 of 3,597 for speaker:Jennifer Whitmore

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Citizens Assembly Report on Biodiversity Loss: Discussion (Resumed) (17 Oct 2023)

Jennifer Whitmore: This would be a key tool to make sure the climate Act continues to be robust legislation. The committee went through the process but the job did not end there. There is another element required to ensure the legislation is implemented as intended.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Citizens Assembly Report on Biodiversity Loss: Discussion (Resumed) (17 Oct 2023)

Jennifer Whitmore: This is an incredibly important point because we rely on Europe to safeguard our environment. When everything else fails here it is Europe that holds us to account. It would be fantastic to have something in place whereby we hold ourselves to account. When we speak about balancing and getting the rebalancing right, nature has very few rights. Does nature have any rights in legislation?...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Citizens Assembly Report on Biodiversity Loss: Discussion (Resumed) (17 Oct 2023)

Jennifer Whitmore: While we are talking about complementary legislation, I wonder where the international crime of ecocide would fit in. Is that another essential tool or mechanism that should also be in place so that we are building up a robust legal framework, not just nationally but internationally as well, and one that can bring criminal sanctions to individuals and not just entities?

Written Answers — Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth: Childcare Services (17 Oct 2023)

Jennifer Whitmore: 439. To ask the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth the value of core funding for each individual early learning and care and school age children service for 2022/2023, in tabular form. [45144/23]

Saincheisteanna Tráthúla - Topical Issue Debate: School Enrolments (12 Oct 2023)

Jennifer Whitmore: I thank the Minister of State for standing in for the Minister, Deputy Foley, this evening. Three weeks ago, enrolment opened in Greystones for the 2024 secondary school intake. The three schools that opened their enrolments were St. David's Holy Faith Secondary School, Temple Carrig School and Greystones Community College. In five weeks' time, those three schools will write to parents to...

Saincheisteanna Tráthúla - Topical Issue Debate: School Enrolments (12 Oct 2023)

Jennifer Whitmore: I thank the Minister of State. He specified four schools. He mentioned Greystones Community College, which is to receive a new building. That is very welcome and we are really looking forward to it. No date as to when it will be delivered is provided in his response. My understanding is that it is to be in 2025, but that is assuming everything goes well. From experience, it tends not...

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (12 Oct 2023)

Jennifer Whitmore: It is seven weeks into the school term and it appears that there are still more than 200 students in County Wicklow who do not have seats on their school buses. I use the word "appears" because it is impossible to get information from the Minister for Education.

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (12 Oct 2023)

Jennifer Whitmore: More than 200. It is impossible to get information from the Minister for Education on this matter. I have repeatedly asked her for details in relation to it. The Ceann Comhairle will agree with me on the responses from the Minister. Parents need clarity and an honest response from the Department as to whether their children will get places on school buses at all. Will the Tánaiste...

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (12 Oct 2023)

Jennifer Whitmore: Particularly a meeting.

Financial Resolutions 2023 - Financial Resolution No. 4: General (Resumed) (11 Oct 2023)

Jennifer Whitmore: I have always tried to be constructive when it comes to climate, the environment and nature. I hope the Ministers agree with that. It is an area I am passionate about and an area where I have spent my entire adult life either working or studying. Yesterday's budget was the most disingenuous ever when it comes to matters of climate and nature. Everyone was so happy to see the...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (5 Oct 2023)

Jennifer Whitmore: Last year, the Minister, Deputy O'Gorman, said he wanted to halve childcare fees over two budgets. Given that he is the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth, with the power to slash fees, there was an assumption that he was serious about that promise to parents. It started out well, with an average 25% reduction last year, but cracks have appeared in the...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (5 Oct 2023)

Jennifer Whitmore: When parents are dependent on two incomes to pay rent, a mortgage, soaring energy bills and all the costs associated with having a new baby, they decide that one parent must remain at work. This does not mean that fathers do not want to spend this important time with their newborns, they just cannot afford to. The Government could do something about that. It could commit and do bigger...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (5 Oct 2023)

Jennifer Whitmore: I am not talking about the budget in total, I am talking about the childcare element of it.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (5 Oct 2023)

Jennifer Whitmore: The Tánaiste can try to muddy the waters as much as he likes but the context that is important here is that the Minister made a commitment to reduce the cost of childcare for parents by 50%. That was the promise and that was the commitment. The question now for the Government is whether it is actually going to meet that commitment. That is the only question the Tánaiste had to...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (5 Oct 2023)

Jennifer Whitmore: What we have seen is that over successive governments, the role of parents is forgotten-----

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (5 Oct 2023)

Jennifer Whitmore: -----and the impact of having a new family is forgotten by the Government. Is the Government going to meet its commitment to reduce childcare costs by 50%? All the Tánaiste has to say is "Yes" or "No".

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (5 Oct 2023)

Jennifer Whitmore: "Yes" or "No".

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (5 Oct 2023)

Jennifer Whitmore: Will the Government meets its commitments, "Yes" or "No"?

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (5 Oct 2023)

Jennifer Whitmore: The commitment was to 50%.