Results 541-560 of 3,599 for speaker:Jennifer Whitmore

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%.

Select Committee on Communications, Climate Action and Environment: Energy (Windfall Gains in the Energy Sector) (Cap on Market Revenues) Bill 2023: Committee Stage (5 Oct 2023)

Jennifer Whitmore: I absolutely support this and think it is a very simple measure that could be brought in. Indeed, it is one of the very few measures on which we can make amendments, so it would be a precedent if the Minister of State took it on board. One of the issues I raised during the debate was the need for transparency on the profits that were being made by different entities, and something like...

Select Committee on Communications, Climate Action and Environment: Energy (Windfall Gains in the Energy Sector) (Cap on Market Revenues) Bill 2023: Committee Stage (5 Oct 2023)

Jennifer Whitmore: I fully support this amendment as well. It is an issue I raised in the Dáil with the Minister of State. The timeframe is way too short and is not going to capture comprehensively the absolutely obscene profits made during that period. I note the Minister of State has said he received legal advice prior to December 2022, on extending that period. The legal advice specified that it was...

Childcare Fees: Motion [Private Members] (3 Oct 2023)

Jennifer Whitmore: I thank Sinn Féin, specifically Deputy Funchion, for bringing forward this motion. The Deputy has worked collaboratively on the Joint Committee on Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth, focusing on issues relating to children and their welfare. What is in the Sinn Féin motion is not a surprise to anyone. The majority of people recognise that childcare costs are...

School Transport 2023-2024: Statements (3 Oct 2023)

Jennifer Whitmore: It is more than five weeks since parents in Wicklow were told the school bus service for which they had applied and paid, and on which they relied, was no longer available for their children to get them to school. Parents were left in the lurch. Very little information was given to them. No reason was given as to why this happened or when it would be resolved. Many parents, unfortunately,...

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (3 Oct 2023)

Jennifer Whitmore: There is hardly a greater avoidable tragedy in Irish society than child poverty. It destroys and limits lives. It affects everything, including emotional development, educational attainment, mental health, physical well-being, career opportunities and income in later life. Poverty does not just contribute to bad outcomes. It has a direct and negative causal impact on children,...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Skills: Current and Future Plans of the School Building Unit: Department of Education (3 Oct 2023)

Jennifer Whitmore: I thank the Cathaoirleach Gníomhach for allowing me to speak today because it is great to have the opportunity to have face-to-face engagement with the Department. I have had many discussions with the Department via parliamentary questions and emails. I primarily want to raise the issue of capacity in the Greystones area. We have seen a very significant population growth there of...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Skills: Current and Future Plans of the School Building Unit: Department of Education (3 Oct 2023)

Jennifer Whitmore: Which they do, to be fair to them.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Skills: Current and Future Plans of the School Building Unit: Department of Education (3 Oct 2023)

Jennifer Whitmore: They all work really well together.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Skills: Current and Future Plans of the School Building Unit: Department of Education (3 Oct 2023)

Jennifer Whitmore: We are tight on time. I know that there are 75 fewer places for September 2024, regardless of the duplicates and all of that. The schools work closely together and use a good model in how they approach it. How will those 75 students be accommodated?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Skills: Current and Future Plans of the School Building Unit: Department of Education (3 Oct 2023)

Jennifer Whitmore: That will not make any difference to the parents who are going to be on to me in a month's time asking where their children are going to go to school. Will the Department guarantee that those children in Greystones will have a place in their local community? If so, how is that going to be achieved? That is all I want, aside from responses to the other questions.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Skills: Current and Future Plans of the School Building Unit: Department of Education (3 Oct 2023)

Jennifer Whitmore: Do not let him talk again. I still want to follow up on the other issues.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Skills: Current and Future Plans of the School Building Unit: Department of Education (3 Oct 2023)

Jennifer Whitmore: I may have taken Mr. Loftus by surprise. I am not sure if he was aware of the deficit of 75 places. I ask him to come back to me on that. It is really important. On the funding for the bus, those children have been walking backwards and forwards to that-----

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Skills: Current and Future Plans of the School Building Unit: Department of Education (3 Oct 2023)

Jennifer Whitmore: The school has been hearing that for a long time. My understanding is that the patron has lodged an application for that. When will that be signed off? We cannot have a situation where children have to walk to sports facilities in the rain.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Skills: Current and Future Plans of the School Building Unit: Department of Education (3 Oct 2023)

Jennifer Whitmore: I also raised the issue of temporary accommodation in Blessington Community College.

Saincheisteanna Tráthúla - Topical Issue Debate: School Transport (21 Sep 2023)

Jennifer Whitmore: With all due respect to the Minister of State, my question was related to bus cancellations in Wicklow and he did not mention Wicklow once in this reply. Could he please tell me what I will tell parents in Wicklow who do not have a seat on a school bus for their children tomorrow and next week? While he can play with words and say that they the routes were not cancelled but were handed...

Saincheisteanna Tráthúla - Topical Issue Debate: School Transport (21 Sep 2023)

Jennifer Whitmore: Could I say something?

Saincheisteanna Tráthúla - Topical Issue Debate: School Transport (21 Sep 2023)

Jennifer Whitmore: I was just saying I will make myself available for a Topical Issue next week so the Minister can come in and address it. I know parents are really worried about it, and I will make sure I can get in for that, if it is possible.

Saincheisteanna Tráthúla - Topical Issue Debate: School Transport (21 Sep 2023)

Jennifer Whitmore: I thank the Minister of State, Deputy Niall Collins, for being here today, but I do wish the Minister for Education, Deputy Foley, was present, because this is a huge issue. It has been a big issue for a number of weeks now. We are not seeing the kind of response that is needed on this issue from the Department of Education, the office of the Minister or, indeed, Bus Éireann. I am...