Results 8,761-8,780 of 9,393 for speaker:Alex White

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport and Communications: Estimates for Public Services 2015: Vote 29 - Communications, Energy and Natural Resources (7 Oct 2015)

Alex White: What we want to do is approach it in a way that is technically feasible and economically viable. As such, we want to hear from the bidders what are their offerings in respect of it. That will be part of the bidding process. I thank the Deputy for what he said about the digital strategy for schools, which is very progressive. My colleague, the Minister for Education and Skills, Deputy...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport and Communications: Estimates for Public Services 2015: Vote 29 - Communications, Energy and Natural Resources (7 Oct 2015)

Alex White: On the implementation strategy for national broadband, what I said earlier this year, and I want to make it clear, is that all of the timelines we have set regarding the national broadband plan since the middle of last year when I came into this job have been complied with. For example, we said earlier this year that we would have the implementation strategy. The mapping was this time last...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport and Communications: Estimates for Public Services 2015: Vote 29 - Communications, Energy and Natural Resources (7 Oct 2015)

Alex White: The procurement process will go ahead, as planned, by the end of this year in November or December. I had a schedule of state aid approved by the Commission for various projects throughout Europe. The timescale varies and that is one of the problems we have to address. It is not certain. The Commission will examine the matter. It could do so in a period of two or three months or it could...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport and Communications: Estimates for Public Services 2015: Vote 29 - Communications, Energy and Natural Resources (7 Oct 2015)

Alex White: It will be done by summer 2016. I have been fairly accurate in the estimates I have given to colleagues up to now. I imagine it will be by midyear. What are the solid dates? 2020 is a solid date in terms of completing the entire project. We brought a new date into play recently, which is an improvement on what we had been saying. We are saying everything will be completed by 2020. In...

Leaders' Questions (8 Oct 2015)

Alex White: First of all, it is not acceptable that in Ireland in 2015 we have families living in emergency accommodation. It is not acceptable to the Government, the Oireachtas or the people.

Leaders' Questions (8 Oct 2015)

Alex White: That is a shared perspective on the fact that we have a serious problem here.

Leaders' Questions (8 Oct 2015)

Alex White: As the Deputy well knows, many of the problems stem from a chronic lack of supply of housing, which is causing knock-on problems across the property market and the wider society, including renters, first-time buyers and low-income households. What we have to do is take action to resolve it, as the Deputy is calling for. That is what this Government is doing. As the House will be aware, the...

Leaders' Questions (8 Oct 2015)

Alex White: This issue is an extremely challenging problem for the Government and nobody is making light of that for one moment. However, it has to be addressed through practical, systematic measures taken by the Government and the Minister, Deputy Kelly, in particular, to ensure that we address this difficult and challenging problem.

Leaders' Questions (8 Oct 2015)

Alex White: The Government is doing that and we will deliver the answers that are required in terms of bringing these issues to a conclusion.

Leaders' Questions (8 Oct 2015)

Alex White: The Deputy accuses me-----

Leaders' Questions (8 Oct 2015)

Alex White: The Deputy accuses me of engaging in commentary. That is strange coming from him. He says there has been no action. An additional €2.2 billion in funding was announced in budget 2015 in respect of the social housing strategy.

Leaders' Questions (8 Oct 2015)

Alex White: The strategy is a comprehensive response - reasonable people and those in the House will accept that - to the need for social housing. We need to build houses.

Leaders' Questions (8 Oct 2015)

Alex White: We have a problem and we need to build houses. Even the Deputies opposite must understand that it takes time to put together a process by which we can actually build houses.

Leaders' Questions (8 Oct 2015)

Alex White: We have a target of 110,000 social housing units by 2020, including 35,000 new social housing units and 75,000 through the housing assistance payment.

Leaders' Questions (8 Oct 2015)

Alex White: That is not commentary; that is the target. If the Members opposite have practical proposals to make and practical suggestions - I will come to the one the Deputy made in a moment - we would be delighted to hear them. However, sometimes I get an impression that these difficult and serious social issues are being used. There is always a danger that Members are leveraging them to make a...

Leaders' Questions (8 Oct 2015)

Alex White: If it is necessary to introduce legislation to address the procurement question, I am sure the Minister will do that.

Leaders' Questions (8 Oct 2015)

Alex White: Legislation may not be necessary to address the issue of procurement. It may well be possible to deliver these modular homes without having to change the legislation.

Leaders' Questions (8 Oct 2015)

Alex White: The Deputy simply wants to throw around the idea of having emergency legislation so that he can utter the word "emergency" as often as he possibly can in the course of this question. What we are doing is actually addressing the problem. We are delivering solutions. The Deputies opposite have no solutions and no proposals other than attack.

Leaders' Questions (8 Oct 2015)

Alex White: As the Deputy acknowledged at the outset, announcements have been made in respect of the restoration of those important buildings on Moore Street. I think the announcements that the Minister, Deputy Humphreys, and the Government have made will do justice to the historical importance of the buildings and the site for the people of Dublin and Ireland. That is the way we should proceed in...

Leaders' Questions (8 Oct 2015)

Alex White: The Deputy makes things up as he goes along. I do not know whether it is to fill time or what it is.