News

The second phase of unpaid parental leave brought in by the Social Democrats Parental Leave (Amendment) Act 2019 comes into effect next Tuesday, 1st September 2020. Four additional weeks of unpaid leave is available to parents, following on from the four weeks that became available last September, bringing the amount of unpaid parental leave available to […]

Social Democrats spokesperson for Agriculture, Holly Cairns TD, and the party’s spokesperson for Climate Action and Environment, Jennifer Whitmore TD, believe that the Government’s new Forestry Bill is significantly flawed and in direct contravention of EU Directives and the Aarhus Convention which protect people’s rights to appeal decisions in environmental planning. Deputy Whitmore and Deputy […]

Jennifer Whitmore TD, Social Democrats spokesperson for Children, has called on the Government to fast-track Covid testing for childcare staff. Deputy Whitmore said: “I welcome confirmation from the Department of Health that the testing of school children and staff for Covid-19 is to be fast-tracked to enable results within 24 to 48 hours. “However, this same […]

Jennifer Whitmore TD, Social Democrats spokesperson on Children, said that the Government must try to ensure that they communicate public health information for the childcare sector in a way that does not appear to contradict HSE guidelines. Deputy Whitmore said: “I welcome the HSE’s latest guidelines for parents as children begin to return to childcare […]

The Social Democrats have called for mobile Covid-19 testing units to be rolled out for schools to help identify outbreaks and prevent widespread closures in the event of clusters emerging. Gary Gannon TD, the party’s Education spokesperson, said: “As primary and secondary schools start to reopen this week, there is understandable anxiety among parents, students, […]

Reacting to today’s Supreme Court decision to quash the Government’s 2017 National Mitigation Plan, Jennifer Whitmore TD, Social Democrats spokesperson on Climate, said: “This decision should serve as a wake-up call for the Government. We need to act decisively and urgently to reduce our greenhouse gas emissions and this means frontloading measures that will see […]

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 […]