News

Jennifer Whitmore, Social Democrats spokesperson for Children, says it will be critical that sufficient mental health supports are made available as schools reopen in the coming weeks. Deputy Whitmore said: “There will be a lot of anxiety amongst children as they transition back into school life after being home for six months. During this period, […]

Jennifer Whitmore TD, the Social Democrats spokesperson for the Environment, and Holly Cairns TD, spokesperson for Agriculture, have called on the Government to properly resource the National Parks and Wildlife Service and to establish a specialised Garda unit to deal with wildlife crime. The TDs have highlighted the fact that the number of successful prosecutions […]

The Social Democrats have today announced spokesperson roles for the 33rd Dáil. Co-leader Catherine Murphy said: “In announcing our spokesperson roles today, I am confirming that the Social Democrats will continue to work as we did in the last Dáil – by being constructive and practical but also by not being afraid to ask the tough […]

Calling on the Government and Minister for Children to outline clearly the long-term plans to support the childcare sector and put children, not the system, first, Social Democrats spokesperson for children, Jennifer Whitmore TD said: “The continuing Government uncertainty on the funding package to support the childcare sector for the period beyond the end of August is […]

The Social Democrats today publish the motion on Workers’ Rights that they will bring forward in their first Private Members’ time in the 33rd Dáil. The motion will be debated on Wednesday, July 15, at 8pm. The motion aims to increase protection for workers across a range of areas, including low-pay, precarious work, collective bargaining […]

Today’s announcement by the Government of an additional three weeks paid parental leave can only be described as a cynical move by Government designed to give the impression of supporting parents, whilst in fact parents are being short-changed, said SocDems spokesperson for Children, Jennifer Whitmore TD. Whitmore said: “A key commitment given in the 2019 […]

Social Democrats TD for Wicklow Jennifer Whitmore has today offered her support to a group of mothers who formed the Extend Maternity Campaign and who are calling for the extension of Maternity Leave and pay by three months. Deputy Whitmore met with campaigners and members of the National Women’s Council of Ireland (NWCI) outside Leinster […]

Social Democrats Spokesperson on Energy, Jenifer Whitmore TD, has said today’s announcement by the CRU (Commission for Regulation of Utilities) that the moratorium on disconnections will cease on June 29th  and that the provision of emergency credit to Pay As You Go Customers will revert to €10 from the current €100, is premature and will cause […]

Social Democrats Spokesperson for Children Jennifer Whitmore has reiterated her call for the retention of the Department of Children and Youth Affairs. The call comes amid repeated suggestions in the media that the existing Department should merge with the Department of Education and a separate new Department for Higher Education be formed instead.  Whitmore says […]

Social Democrats Spokesperson for Children, Deputy Jennifer Whitmore has today welcomed the announcement by the Department of Children and Youth Affairs of a funding package of €75m to the childcare sector to help facilities reopen at the end of the month. Whitmore welcomes the inclusion of a once-off grant totalling €375,000 to be provided for childminders. […]

Social Democrats TD for Wicklow, and Spokesperson for Communications, Jennifer Whitmore has called for the Government to move quickly to provide additional funding to the Trading Online Voucher Scheme (TOV) for small businesses, after it has come to light that new applications for the scheme have been stalled due to a lack of funding. The […]

Social Democrats Spokesperson for Climate Change and Biodiversity, Jennifer Whitmore TD., believes that the time has come to use nature-based solutions (NbS) to deal with many of the environmental problems facing us, including many of the challenges of the climate emergency. “This World Environment Day, Friday 5th June, let’s appreciate the power and the value of […]

Jennifer Whitmore, Social Democrat spokesperson for biodiversity, and Holly Cairns TD, spokesperson for Agriculture, have called on Coillte to extend nationwide their recreational and biodiversity initiative for Dublin. Coillte have announced that nine Dublin forests will transition away from commercial activities of felling and replanting cycles towards a model of planting native broad-leaf varieties. The […]

Social Democrats spokesperson for Children Deputy Jennifer Whitmore has said that there should be no rowing back on support put in place for the childcare sector, and instead the state should build on these measures to finally create a national public childcare system. Deputy Whitmore said: When the Covid-19 pandemic hit, it quickly exposed the […]