Miracle On Hillside Road

Whitmore’s Hillside HQ

atest press release from Deputy Jennifer Whitmore, issued on Monday, December 18th 2023…

As 2023 draws to a close I want to take the opportunity to wish each resident of our County Wicklow a Happy Christmas and peaceful New Year.

In Greystones and the wider community we can take pride in our community and the resilience with which we face our challenges. It’s been a privilege to be able to assist and advocate for so many constituents this year.

My primary focus over the last 12 month has been about delivery for the people of Wicklow. I have been advocating for families who cannot access school bus places, who are still waiting to hear about secondary school places for incoming first years, children with additional needs seeking education places and assisting schools in the area to make progress on new builds for their school.

Transport throughout Wicklow has also been a priority. We hear a lot from this government about using public transport as our primary means of transport, but that won’t become a reality unless we run enough services to keep pace with demand. Public transport must be reliable and convenient if we want to see more car journeys taken off the road and I have raised and will continue to raise these concerns with the NTA, Bus Eireann, Go Ahead and Irish Rail.

As party spokesperson for Children, another important focus has been childcare for families in Greystones and across Wicklow.  Many concerns have been raised with my office both from parents and from providers. I will continue to raise these issues with the Department and Minister to advocate for a public model of Childcare.

Access to GP services has been another priority to me. Several people have contacted my office because they are unable to access GP care in their local area. Following this my office carried out a survey of all GP practices in County Wicklow to find out what GP availability is like across all districts in Wicklow, and the results were startling with less than a third of surgeries taking new patients. This is an issue that will stay on my priority list until a resolution is found.

On a national level, as my Party’s Spokesperson for Climate and Nature I have called on government to get serious about the impacts of climate change as well as supporting families in making changes such as accessing solar energy. I have also been working on the Oireachtas Climate Committee responding to the Citizens Assembly on Biodiversity. This has included making recommendations for a referendum on the right to a clean and healthy environment to be inserted in the constitution.

Most notably, I took decision in the last few weeks to provide a pair to Minister Eamon Ryan so that Ireland’s representation at COP28 would not be interrupted. The climate crisis facing us in Ireland, especially in coastal areas like Wicklow, is too urgent to have justified the loss of two days of negotiations. Government needs to move from talking to action on climate. We need to see delivery, and we need to see it now.

This is only a snapshot of the work undertaken this year both locally and nationally and I will continue to voice the concerns of local communities in the Dáil and continue to represent the everyone in Greystones and the entire county of Wicklow. I, or a member of my team, will be available to you to help navigate your way through any issues you may face in 2024. Drop in and say hello; connection with the community is very important to me and the team.

With the festive season upon us, I want wish you and your families a very Merry Christmas.

May 2024 bring us all health, happiness and harmony.