Jennifer Whitmore

The Minister for justice recently brought in reforms for the criminal justice legal aid system. While we all recognise that there is a need for reform within the system, the reforms that the Minister has brought in are ill-considered, not backed up by data or evidence and have led to absolute chaos in the courts system. Solicitors have removed themselves from free legal aid work. The Wicklow cour…

None of them are getting legal justice.

I have never used that language.

Is the Minister okay that-----

We agree about the need for reform. Do it properly.

It would be based on evidence.

Hear, hear.

A hosepipe ban will come into force in a number of counties on the east coast from tomorrow. I completely understand that because we are seeing record temperatures and are in the middle of dealing with the climate crisis and climate change. It is important that we conserve water, but can the Taoiseach understand the frustration of many people being told that they have to conserve water when it app…

Uisce Éireann seems to have plucked its figure from thin air.

Will the Taoiseach ensure that there is oversight-----

-----of the amount of water that data centres use?

We need to know what they are using.

We need to go into this with our eyes wide open.

We have no idea how much water data centres are using. It is incredible.

6. Deputy Jennifer Whitmore asked the Taoiseach if he will report on his recent meeting with the Spanish Prime Minister. [49336/26]

More than 1,000 people died in Spain due to heat-related causes in June of this year alone. By early July, Spain had 14 major forest fires and 50,000 ha of land had been burned. Across Europe, more than 10,000 excess deaths associated with the recent heatwave were recorded in a single week. These warnings have to be taken seriously. I am really worried that, rather than using his time at the helm …

20. Deputy Jennifer Whitmore asked the Taoiseach for an update on the implementation of the Dublin city task force report. [49337/26]

In 2024, 1,000 incidents of antisocial behaviour were recorded on Dublin Bus. That was nearly double the figure recorded just a few years earlier. Unfortunately, this is not just limited to Dublin. We are also seeing instances of this in my constituency, Wicklow, on Go-Ahead services. I have constituents who are unable to take some routes because of the antisocial behaviour that is happening, part…

This debate today is really important. I think every family in this country will to some degree have experienced dementia and the difficulties and challenges people face when they get that diagnosis. I have a lot of personal experience with it. My father had vascular dementia, my father-in-law had Alzheimer's and my mother-in-law also has vascular dementia. I know how difficult it is from the poin…

I welcome the Bill. It is great to see progress in the area but an opportunity was missed to make the scheme accessible to everyone. Similar to my colleagues, one of the main issues I have is the age scope of the Bill. I am glad the national women's health action plan includes a commitment to expanding the age scope but this needs to be a firm commitment and it needs to happen sooner rather than l…

I am happy to see the Minister, Deputy Heydon, is amending the Dog Breeding Establishments Act 2010 and is introducing some stronger regulations for dog breeding. They are long overdue. I am also pleased to see that many of the proposals he is including are proposals I included in my dog breeding Bill last December. We debated that Bill in the Chamber last December so I am pleased to see those sug…

-----and promised it would work with me on it and it did not. That has completely undermined trust in the process.

Part of the Minister of State's response reads, "The mandatory staffing ratio of 1:20 creates an indirect but real constraint on establishment size." I am really not sure what the rationale behind that is. I assume the Minister of State means that people will not want to employ a lot of staff because it is a cost to them, but if somebody has 20 breeding females and each has an average of five pups…

The CSO reported today that electricity consumption by data centres is at a record high of 23%. That is 10% higher than it was in the previous year. It is forecast to grow to 30% by 2030 and if the Government's large energy user policy is implemented in full, it could reach 55% of our electricity demand. That means higher electricity prices for domestic users and small businesses, it means complet…

It was quite balanced.