Results 8,481-8,500 of 9,393 for speaker:Alex White

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: 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 (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 (12 Mar 2009)

Alex White: Surely not.

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

Alex White: On the final point made by Senator Bacik, I would like the Minister of State to comment on the question of its application in the context of inter-country adoptions. In looking at the Bill again perhaps I am missing something in terms of where the matter appears. Section 32 covers religion. Does it have equal application to inter-country adoptions? How on earth is it suggested it could...

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

Alex White: I move amendment No. 20: In page 29, subsection (1), between lines 38 and 39, to insert the following: "(b) The applicants are a couple of the same sex over 21 years of age who can demonstrate that they have been living together within the jurisdiction for not less than two years and who have demonstrated to the appropriate authorities under this legislation that they are fit persons to...

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

Alex White: I will support the amendment, as Senator Norris is not in attendance.

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

Alex White: I move amendment No. 23: In page 31, line 1, to delete "The" and substitute the following: "Save in the case of an application by a natural parent or relative of the child, the". Section 34 addresses persons suitable for adoption or for the recognition of an intercountry adoption effected outside the State and sets out a number of tests. The amendment is intended to make an exception in...

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

Alex White: I wish to respond briefly. I understand the points made by the Minister of State in respect of both amendments. With regard to amendment No. 23, he correctly states that he is opposed to any dilution of the basic principles and I have no difficulty with that. When I make that point, I do not suggest that it will be followed by a "but", to the effect that I wish to dilute any of the...

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 move amendment No. 12: In page 24, line 12, after "consideration" to insert the following: ", and it shall be presumed unless the contrary is shown that the welfare of the child is best promoted in the society of either or both of the child's natural parents". The test that arises from the Supreme Court decision in N and HSE is material to the amendment and to section 19 in general. The...

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

Alex White: I am interested to hear what the Minister of State and my colleagues have said in this regard. It is probably fair to say the substance of the proposed amendment more closely approximates to our law than the section as drafted. I understand the Minister of State's point as to its relevance in this section and, for that reason alone, I will not be pressing the amendment at this point....