Results 901-920 of 9,393 for speaker:Alex White

Seanad: Adoption Bill 2009: Committee Stage (Resumed) (11 Mar 2009)

Alex White: I move amendment No. 25: In page 31, line 28, after "section 37(1)," to insert the following: "or to an accredited committee or body on behalf of the Executive". This amendment arises from representations my colleagues and I have received from the International Adoption Association. Its primary concern in regard to this legislation relates to the delays in processing applications being...

Seanad: Adoption Bill 2009: Committee Stage (Resumed) (11 Mar 2009)

Alex White: I took the somewhat selfish view that I would concentrate on the amendment I tabled, but I will try to have regard to others. I hear what the Minister of State says with regard to talking to other bodies in an attempt to improve the situation. Accredited bodies are already provided for in section 37, as the Minister of State pointed out. Our amendments to section 35 contemplate an...

Seanad: Adoption Bill 2009: Committee Stage (Resumed) (11 Mar 2009)

Alex White: It is a long list of amendments which propose to amend different sections. It seems they are from the same perspective, which allows for the possibility of the Health Service Executive or any accredited agency authorised by the adoption authority to conduct assessments of suitability and so on. I have not studied the amendments particularly closely but they seem to raise a similar enough...

Seanad: Adoption Bill 2009: Committee Stage (Resumed) (11 Mar 2009)

Alex White: No, I will withdraw it and may resubmit it on Report Stage.

Seanad: Seanad Reform: Motion (11 Mar 2009)

Alex White: I will take two minutes. I do not wish any discourtesy to my colleagues but I have not been able to follow this debate because I was at a meeting of the Joint Committee on the Constitutional Amendment on Children. I am unable to respond to anything else that was said in the debate. I wish to respond to something Senator Norris has repeatedly said in his robust defence of the university...

Seanad: Order of Business (12 Mar 2009)

Alex White: Will the Leader please arrange a debate in this House on the announcement by the Taoiseach, the Minister for Education and Science and others yesterday of what has been described as an innovative task force involving UCD and TCD? At the outset, I want to say we should all welcome such an initiative that would ensure additional funding goes to our universities, so that they might continue to...

Seanad: Order of Business (12 Mar 2009)

Alex White: Surely not.

Seanad: Order of Business (24 Mar 2009)

Alex White: Every possible effort should be made to avert the strike planned for Monday, 30 March. It is not enough for people to accuse the trade unions of sabotage, as has been done in some quarters. The only thing to do is to act along the lines suggested by Senator O'Toole where the Taoiseach and the Government engage with the representatives of tens of thousands of Irish workers and employees...

Seanad: Order of Business (1 Apr 2009)

Alex White: Next week the Government needs to deal with the crisis in the public finances and address the question of the deficit. I accept that is an urgent matter for it to attend to. We are all being conditioned to expect very serious decisions and very severe measures to be taken next week. I hope that in addition to a budgetary book-balancing accountancy exercise next week, we also have some real...

Seanad: Order of Business (1 Apr 2009)

Alex White: I agree with some and disagree with others. However, the notion of deleting everything seems to take away any kind of serious debate.

Seanad: Order of Business (1 Apr 2009)

Alex White: I agree entirely with what has been said in respect of the price of cigarettes. Clearly there is a compelling argument that only a significant increase as pointed out by the Irish Cancer Society would encourage smokers to quit and discourage young people in particular from starting. That should certainly be addressed in the budget. Will the Leader clarify for the House either today or some...

Seanad: Order of Business (1 Apr 2009)

Alex White: Hear, hear.

Seanad: Order of Business (1 Apr 2009)

Alex White: What has happened to it now?

Seanad: Order of Business (1 Apr 2009)

Alex White: It is a catastrophe.

Seanad: Adoption Bill 2009: Committee Stage (Resumed) (1 Apr 2009)

Alex White: I support what Senator Fitzgerald said. Unless it is necessary, nobody wants to hold the Minister of State to precise dates and so on. However, this is a very urgent matter and one of huge concern to many people. The Minister of State indicated that he hopes there will be contact with the Vietnamese or that there will be a trip to Vietnam within days or weeks. Will he indicate which will...

Seanad: Adoption Bill 2009: Committee Stage (resumed) (1 Apr 2009)

Alex White: I move amendment No. 51: In page 50, subsection (2), line 7, after "Authority" to insert the following: ", which shall give consent to that information being given where the adopted person and the person placing the child for adoption have agreed through a tracing mechanism to be established by the Authority that the information can be given". This amendment deals with tracing and the need to...

Seanad: Adoption Bill 2009: Committee Stage (resumed) (1 Apr 2009)

Alex White: I am happy to withdraw amendment No. 51 on the basis that the Minister of State is willing to examine the matter in advance of Report Stage. I thank him for indicating his willingness to do so. The Minister of State wondered whether I was intending to stymie or alter the discretion of the authority in some way. I am not hung up on that question. If the Minister of State wants to maintain...

Seanad: Adoption Bill 2009: Committee Stage (resumed) (1 Apr 2009)

Alex White: I move amendment No. 52: In page 65, subsection (1), between lines 10 and 11, to insert the following: "(d) promoting the development of post adoption services;". The Minister of State anticipated this amendment in his remarks on the previous one. As I understand the Government's position, it is not necessary or it may be too soon to include in legislation provisions on the development of...

Seanad: Death of Member: Expressions of Sympathy (22 Apr 2009)

Alex White: On my behalf and on behalf of the Labour Party, I join others in conveying our deepest sympathy to the family of Senator Tony Kett, the Cathaoirleach, the Leader and the members of the Fianna Fáil Party who served with him in the House over many years. It is a sad day, as Senator O'Toole said, when we mark the passing of one of our colleagues. It was plain for all to see this morning at...

Seanad: Order of Business (23 Apr 2009)

Alex White: The kind of political reform we need goes a lot deeper than the suggestions that have been made. In the last few days, the Government's handling of the fiasco over long-service increments — I know some Members will have sensitivities about it — has exposed politicians and the political system yet again to the charge that we are living in a parallel universe. We are living in a different...