Results 1,641-1,660 of 9,393 for speaker:Alex White

Seanad: Seanad Reform: Motion (3 Nov 2010)

Alex White: It has been agreed for years but where is it? We do not need to change the Constitution for any of these issues. The Minister of State, Deputy Áine Brady, asked what the Seanad itself is doing about making itself relevant. It is a perfectly reasonable question and it should be answered. As a Chamber, we are not doing anything about it. We stand condemned. I do not take the blame...

Seanad: Seanad Reform: Motion (3 Nov 2010)

Alex White: The Senator should not apologise for that.

Seanad: Order of Business (4 Nov 2010)

Alex White: How anybody could disagree with Senator Fitzgerald's contention that it is reprehensible for the Government to force people to go to court to have their basic democratic right to representation vindicated beats me. If the Government wants to appeal the decision to the Supreme Court, that is a matter for it, but it should not be done to block the other by-elections from being held. They...

Seanad: Order of Business (4 Nov 2010)

Alex White: The issue in this case is not the separation of powers but the right of citizens to representation. Senator Fitzgerald is absolutely correct that it is extraordinary that people must go to the High Court. Members constantly argue in the House that the power of the courts is too great, but citizens are being forced to go to the courts to have their right to representation vindicated. That...

Seanad: Order of Business (4 Nov 2010)

Alex White: If anything, the Minister of State's speech last night confirmed this as the view of the Government. It is clear on the basis of the outcome of the vote last night - the Leader must face up to this - that the Government and the Leader have lost the confidence of this House on the reform agenda. The Leader lost the vote on this important question. I asked him last week on the Order of...

Seanad: Order of Business (4 Nov 2010)

Alex White: The Leader will have another chance in a few minutes to tell us.

Seanad: Order of Business (4 Nov 2010)

Alex White: He can think of something else he has done.

Seanad: Order of Business (4 Nov 2010)

Alex White: The fact is he has done absolutely nothing. We on this side of the House have made proposals to liberalise the way we debate the economy but no action has been taken. We asked for a petition system to be introduced, but nothing has been done in this regard. The Leader has no interest in reform of the Seanad.

Seanad: Order of Business (4 Nov 2010)

Alex White: There is no point in saying we should have reform when the Leader is doing nothing about it.

Seanad: Order of Business (4 Nov 2010)

Alex White: He has lost the confidence of the House because he lost the vote last night.

Seanad: Order of Business (9 Nov 2010)

Alex White: In seeking consensus on a particular course of action one would have to know the proposed course of action before answering the question as to whether one agreed with it. That is a first principle.

Seanad: Order of Business (9 Nov 2010)

Alex White: For example, if consensus is being sought on a four-year plan, we will have to see the plan before we can decide whether we agree with it. Is that not straightforward? Anyone can see that that is agreeable. From the brief reports I have heard on the meetings which took place with the Commissioner this morning, I do not know whether matters have changed specifically. Perhaps the Leader...

Seanad: European Council: Statements (9 Nov 2010)

Alex White: I welcome the opportunity to debate last week's European Council meeting. It was only a matter of time before the emergence of issues regarding the proposal on a mechanism, whether it is called a supervisory mechanism or something else, for budgetary policy across the Union. It took no prescience on the part of any Senator to know that the proposal was being flagged as long as six months...

Seanad: Order of Business (11 Nov 2010)

Alex White: I see our economy and our borrowing requirements are once again the lead story in the Financial Times today. It is worth noting, in view of what the Taoiseach said yesterday, that it is not the Opposition spokespersons or anyone else who are putting the country on the front page of the Financial Times. That newspaper is simply reporting the facts and the true position which, unfortunately,...

Seanad: Order of Business (11 Nov 2010)

Alex White: Perhaps the debate could be organised after the budget. It is something that would wait a few weeks. This summer, I went to the valley of the Somme and visited the grave of a granduncle of mine who was killed in the First World War. I am sure many people in this Chamber have a similar knowledge of people who were killed in that battle. We are reminded of it today more than any other day....

Seanad: Order of Business (17 Nov 2010)

Alex White: As was said this morning, there are not words we can think of to describe the horrors that occurred yesterday in Limerick and Cork other than to say, for what it is worth, that we communicate and pass on our condolences to the families of those people who have been affected by these dreadful tragedies. I agree with what my colleagues suggested in what they said and I reiterate my party's...

Seanad: Death of Member: Expressions of Sympathy (17 Nov 2010)

Alex White: On behalf of the Labour Party, I extend my sympathy to the family of the late Senator Kieran Phelan, as well as to the Fianna Fáil Party, the Leader and the Cathaoirleach on the loss of a close friend and associate. This is not a partisan occasion and I am saddened but privileged to have an opportunity to honour a true colleague with whom I worked for several years in the Seanad. We are...

Seanad: Credit Institutions (Eligible Liabilities Guarantee) (Amendment) (No. 2) Scheme 2010: Motion (17 Nov 2010)

Alex White: I listened to the debate with some interest. Some of the points made were not without significance, especially one or two points made by Senator Boyle to which I will return. I was most struck by what Senator Quinn said. I understood him to say, essentially, that this debate, unfortunately, can be reduced to the proposition - these are not his words, I am paraphrasing what he said - that...

Seanad: Order of Business (18 Nov 2010)

Alex White: The 1911 census was published.

Seanad: Order of Business (18 Nov 2010)

Alex White: No, the 1911 census was published within 100 years.