News

Social Democrats’ Spokesperson for Children, Councillor Jennifer Whitmore, has said the Department of Education must ensure that structural inspections on all 42 schools built by Western Building Systems will be concluded before the end of the mid-term break. “All affected schools need to know with certainty that these assessments will be carried out within the […]

“Today’s Budget provides for an extra two weeks of paid parental leave per parent. This is a meagre allocation – and it doesn’t even kick in until November of next year.” Social Democrats Spokesperson on Children, Councillor Jennifer Whitmore, has said the government has done the bare minimum to support working parents in Budget 2019. […]

Social Democrats Spokeswoman on Children Councillor Jennifer Whitmore has called for a human milk bank to be set up in the Republic of Ireland. “We can’t allow families and babies-in-need to be caught up in any potential political upheaval in the wake of Brexit. The Government needs to take a proactive approach and establish a […]

Social Democrats’ Spokesperson on Children, Councillor Jennifer Whitmore, today backed calls for the Department of Education to step in to regulate and reduce the use of restraint and seclusion practices in our schools. “My gut feeling is that this could be a growing problem, as schools are being left to manage children with behavioural needs […]

Social Democrats’ Spokesperson on Children, Councillor Jennifer Whitmore has said today’s ESRI-Pobal research findings that women are being shut out of the workplace by the high cost of childcare shows the need for a complete re-think of how we deliver childcare and the role the State provides in supporting parents. “High childcare costs place an […]

Taoiseach must raise issue of confessional secrecy on child abuse with Pope Francis “There is a direct conflict between the requirement of our legislation and Canon Law. Canon Law can never be allowed to over-ride civil law, in particular when it comes to the protection of children”. Social Democrats Spokesperson for Children Cllr. Jennifer Whitmore […]

Social Democrats Spokesperson for Children, Cllr Jennifer Whitmore, has said concerted efforts must be made to bring down back-to-school costs so that parents don’t have to resort to money lenders or use funds earmarked for household bills. “Simply sending your children to school should not mean having to rob Peter to pay Paul by using […]

Social Democrats Spokesperson for Children Cllr Jennifer Whitmore today called on the Minister for Children to examine making Facebook content moderators who review videos of physical abuse legally obliged to report. “Facebook’s content moderators are at the coalface of this issue and may often be the first people to see instances of child abuse online.” […]

Social Democrats’ Spokesperson for Children, Councillor Jennifer Whitmore, has called for public health guidelines for parents on the use of computer games amid growing concerns about their addictive effects. Cllr Whitmore made the call following today’s recognition by the World Health Organisation of addiction to video games as a mental disorder. Cllr Whitmore said: “The […]

The Social Democrats have welcomed the passage tonight through the Dáil of our Bill to extend unpaid parental leave for working parents. The Parental Leave (Amendment) Bill 2017 allows parents to take a total of six months (26 weeks) unpaid leave from their jobs without their employment rights being affected. This is an increase on […]