News

The Social Democrats today accused Fine Gael of failing families as new research shows that Ireland ranks among the worst in Europe for meeting people’s childcare and homecare support needs. The party’s Spokesperson for Children, Wicklow Cllr Jennifer Whitmore said: “Ireland’s appalling poor ranking in today’s ESRI study shows the utter emptiness of the Taoiseach’s […]

Social Democrats Spokesperson for Children, Cllr Jennifer Whitmore, has said concerted efforts must be made to reduce high back-to-school costs and relieve stress on parents. Cllr Whitmore was commenting on today’s annual Barnardos survey which found that parents are “stressed out, overburdened and fed up” by the high cost of sending children back to school. […]

“Parents rely on the expertise of Tusla and their inspections to ensure that the facility in which they place their children is safe. Last night’s programme cast doubts on the reliability of this inspection system.“ SocDems call for review of oversight and inspection system for childcare facilitiesSocial Democrats spokesperson for Children, Cllr Jennifer Whitmore, has […]

Up to half a million families could benefit from extensions to unpaid parental leave under a Social Democrats private members bill which is scheduled to pass through the Oireachtas today. “The additional flexibility will help take some pressure off working parents, who can use the extra leave to, say, work a four-day week for part […]

The Social Democrats Spokeswoman for Children, Cllr Jennifer Whitmore, today supported the call for an independent evaluation of family hubs, saying housing authorities are desensitised to the devastating impact of homelessness on children and families. “Today’s report by the Ombudsman for Children includes testimonies from children about life in family hubs that are utterly heart-breaking. […]

Social Democrats Spokesperson for Children, Councillor Jennifer Whitmore today called for new public health guidelines for children playing computer games and a review of how some ‘loot boxes’ and in-game purchases target children. “Parents need to be better equipped to engage with their children about their online habits, and clear public health guidelines for the […]

Social Democrats Spokesperson for Children, Councillor Jennifer Whitmore, has called on the Minister for Health to introduce a Meningitis B catch-up vaccination programme for children and young adults born before October 2016, when the current HSE vaccination programme was introduced. “The vaccine injections cost hundreds of euro, so it’s vital that people know they can […]

Social Democrats Spokeswoman for Children, Councillor Jennifer Whitmore, has backed calls for schools to record and report how often they impose reduced school hours on children. “The Department of Education itself says reduced timetables should be used only in exceptional circumstances and never as a behavioural management tool.” Social Democrats Spokeswoman for Children, Councillor Jennifer […]

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. […]