Results 8,721-8,740 of 9,393 for speaker:Alex White

Seanad: Order of Business (15 Oct 2008)

Alex White: The Government appears to have embraced the notion of performance-related pay. Members of the Government have taken 10% cuts, presumably based on their performances in recent months. I hope that they will revert to the House in the coming months regarding proposals on the inevitable further cuts in pay that they will need to take. The ultimate cut that they should take is not 10% or 20%....

Seanad: Order of Business (15 Oct 2008)

Alex White: We did.

Seanad: Order of Business (15 Oct 2008)

Alex White: Not for the builders.

Seanad: Order of Business (14 Oct 2008)

Alex White: There is a general air of expectation about the House in respect of the budget announcements this afternoon. I do not know whether this morning's unrelenting rain is a signal of what we can expect——

Seanad: Order of Business (14 Oct 2008)

Alex White: ——or at least a harbinger of what is to come. It certainly sets the mood for what we have been told to expect. We will see. I understand it is planned to have a debate on the budget in this House tomorrow. I hope that in the coming days and weeks, not just in one debate, we do not just see the budget as a bookkeeping measure to balance the books. I hope the Minister also does not see...

Seanad: Order of Business (8 Oct 2008)

Alex White: The Government has done nothing. It introduced enabling legislation without a scheme. The scheme itself looks like disappearing with every passing day.

Seanad: Order of Business (8 Oct 2008)

Alex White: There is no back up to what the Government proposes to do.

Seanad: Order of Business (8 Oct 2008)

Alex White: There is no scheme and there is no authority for what the Government wants to do. How could we vote for that?

Seanad: Order of Business (8 Oct 2008)

Alex White: Nothing happened last week.

Seanad: Order of Business (8 Oct 2008)

Alex White: There was nothing to support.

Seanad: Order of Business (8 Oct 2008)

Alex White: Nothing happened, as there is no guarantee.

Seanad: Order of Business (8 Oct 2008)

Alex White: I support and agree with the concerns expressed about the delay in bringing forward the scheme which the Minister for Finance said would come to both Houses. We have seen what happened this morning in the UK. I respectfully disagree with Senator O'Toole in that I do not believe it is accurate to say the UK Government has copied the Irish Government. That is not true. The UK Government has...

Seanad: Order of Business (8 Oct 2008)

Alex White: There is no guarantee is the answer. The Minister for Finance and the Government announced an intention to provide a guarantee, which was a plan for the future, but there is no guarantee for today. This is a serious situation of which I do not make light as a talking point for debate. However, the seriousness of the situation is increased with a further delay in the presentation of the...

Seanad: Order of Business (8 Oct 2008)

Alex White: Hear, hear.

Seanad: Hunger Task Force Report: Statements (7 Oct 2008)

Alex White: I welcome the Minister of State to the House and I welcome the publication of this excellent report. It contains not just an account of the problem but, as Senator de Búrca has pointed out, also contains quite a few compelling and clear pointers as to what might be done by countries, including Ireland, to attack this problem. Other Senators have referred to different aspects of the report...

Seanad: Orders of Reference of Select Committee: Motion (7 Oct 2008)

Alex White: That is a separate issue.

Seanad: Orders of Reference of Select Committee: Motion (7 Oct 2008)

Alex White: That is not true.

Seanad: Orders of Reference of Select Committee: Motion (7 Oct 2008)

Alex White: Along with Senator O'Toole, I have no difficulty with the proposal in the first motion but on the second motion Senator O'Toole has to be right in what he said. It cannot be the case that the Houses of the Oireachtas can go over the head, so to speak, of an Oireachtas committee and purport to set up a sub-committee of that existing committee. Senator O'Toole's point is an unanswerable one....

Seanad: Order of Business (7 Oct 2008)

Alex White: Hear, hear.

Seanad: Order of Business (7 Oct 2008)

Alex White: Hear, hear.