Results 7,741-7,760 of 9,393 for speaker:Alex White

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 (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: Seanad Reform: Motion (3 Nov 2010)

Alex White: The Senator cannot get away with that forever.

Seanad: Seanad Reform: Motion (3 Nov 2010)

Alex White: I will try to keep the wind-bagging to a minimum. I congratulate Senator O'Toole and his colleagues on tabling the motion. There is an element of this debate that is profoundly depressing because it is shot through with a terrible feeling of déjÀ vu. This is at least the third time in my short time in this Chamber - although not as short as that of Senator Dearey - when I have stood up...

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 (3 Nov 2010)

Alex White: Why not tax them?

Seanad: Order of Business (3 Nov 2010)

Alex White: Tax them.

Seanad: Order of Business (3 Nov 2010)

Alex White: Tax them.

Seanad: Order of Business (3 Nov 2010)

Alex White: I also express my deepest sympathies to the Minister, Deputy Micheál Martin, and his family on the very sad death of his daughter at the weekend. In the United States yesterday, as we have seen overnight on the news, there has been another change election. From my perspective, I am sorry to see that there would appear to have been a sharp shift to the right in American politics on foot of...

Seanad: Order of Business (3 Nov 2010)

Alex White: -----not what we want to cut? I refer to this indiscriminate slashing of the knife for two or three weeks in public before a budget. Can we sit down and work out what we cherish, what we want to have and what is worth keeping, rather than taking the debate from the other perspective? That would be a useful exercise for us to undertake here. One of the areas that we should consider as part...