Results 8,881-8,900 of 9,393 for speaker:Alex White

Seanad: Order of Business (28 May 2008)

Alex White: This is the first reference made by myself or my colleagues in the House and we make it in a positive sense, something with which colleagues on the other side of the House might not be familiar.

Seanad: Order of Business (28 May 2008)

Alex White: The Taoiseach made an ill-judged remark at the weekend and appears to want to move on. Yesterday, the Leader did not sound like he wanted to move on.

Seanad: Order of Business (28 May 2008)

Alex White: If the treaty is to be passed, as desired by most Senators, engaging in a sad, sorry skirmish as to who is doing more in the midlands or elsewhere will not get anyone anywhere.

Seanad: Order of Business (28 May 2008)

Alex White: I ask for a debate in respect of today's publication of the 2008 report of Amnesty International. The other side of the House has become quieter. The report is fair and balanced and deserves a debate. It acknowledges many of this country's positive achievements, not least of which was the formation and operation of the Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission, but it points out considerable...

Seanad: Civil Law (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2006: Committee Stage (27 May 2008)

Alex White: It is not clear that the provisions in this section will constitute an improvement to our jurisprudence. The section proposes to repeal the requirement that a District Court judge must keep a note of the evidence before him or her. We do not have a system for universal transcription in the courts, so it is questionable to say the least not to require a formal note of the evidence presented...

Seanad: Civil Law (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2006: Committee Stage (27 May 2008)

Alex White: I concur with Senator Regan that the fact the requirement is more honoured in the breach is not sufficient reason to remove it. The Minister might remind District Court judges of the legislative requirement rather than simply abolish it. I am simply opposing this provision and I am not proposing by way of amendment or otherwise the panoply of technology to which the Minister of State...

Seanad: Civil Law (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2006: Committee Stage (27 May 2008)

Alex White: The Minister mentioned a couple of authorities to which he did not previously refer. I will take the opportunity to consider the cases to which he referred and I will revisit the matter on Report Stage.

Seanad: Civil Law (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2006: Committee Stage (27 May 2008)

Alex White: I move amendment No. 19: In page 30, between lines 24 and 25, to insert the following subsection: "(2) Where a tenant has, on or after the 12th day of December 2007, effected a renunciation as referred to in subsection (1), the tenant shall be deemed not to be entitled to a new lease for a period of 20 years, and any lease for a shorter period effected on foot of such renunciation shall be...

Seanad: Civil Law (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2006: Committee Stage (27 May 2008)

Alex White: The Minister of State made a number of fair points in his response. I do not propose to pursue the amendment today. I will reflect on what he has said and may return to it at a later stage.

Seanad: Civil Law (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2006: Committee Stage (27 May 2008)

Alex White: I thank the Minister of State for his response, particularly to amendment No. 22 which deals with what would otherwise have been an anomaly where there would have been differential treatment of coroners juries. In the circumstances of the Minister of State being prepared to accept the amendment we have put forward in that regard, that difficulty has been dealt with. This relates to removing...

Seanad: Civil Law (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2006: Committee Stage (27 May 2008)

Alex White: I move amendment No. 22: In page 36, before section 47, to insert the following new section: "47.—Section 31 of the Juries Act 1976 is amended by deleting "and under the age of sixty-five years".".

Seanad: Civil Law (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2006: Committee Stage (27 May 2008)

Alex White: I do not have a difficulty with the amendment. However, there was a debate on Second Stage in this House on the views put forward by FLAC, as referred to by the Minister of State. That organisation took a different view as to the likely effect of the proposed change. There appears to have been a difference of viewpoint as to what the real effect would be. I raised the question — as did...

Seanad: Order of Business (27 May 2008)

Alex White: I, too, would like clarification from the Leader on the Government's intentions in regard to the civil union legislation which was promised following several debates in this House and elsewhere. The frustration that the leader of the Green Party and Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government appears to display gives us cause for concern in that regard, and I would welcome...

Seanad: Order of Business (27 May 2008)

Alex White: No.

Seanad: Order of Business (27 May 2008)

Alex White: Another split.

Seanad: Order of Business (27 May 2008)

Alex White: The Senator has not been listening.

Seanad: Order of Business (20 May 2008)

Alex White: How is this a point of order?

Seanad: Order of Business (20 May 2008)

Alex White: There is a clear need for a debate on the matter alluded to by Senator Fitzgerald, namely, the collapse in the past 24 hours of the so-called public private partnership housing projects at St. Michael's House, O'Deveney Gardens and other areas of Dublin city. It is not an exaggeration to describe this event as a parable of our times. It tells us a number of things about where we are at this...

Seanad: Order of Business (20 May 2008)

Alex White: The third thing demonstrated by the collapse of the PPP should be of urgent interest to the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government and to Senator Boyle. It relates to the reason given for the abandonment of these projects. I have been told it relates to the downturn in the construction, but what was less well noticed were the other reasons proffered by Mr. McNamara for...

Seanad: Legal Practitioners (Irish Language) Bill 2007: Second Stage (14 May 2008)

Alex White: Ba mhaith liom comhghairdeas a bhronnadh ar an Aire Stáit, an Teachta Devins, as ucht an phost nua atá bainte amach aige. Tá súil agam go n-éireoidh go maith leis sa jab nua sin. Is lá speisialta é inniu san Oireachtas ó thaobh na Gaeilge de. Bhí Deasún mac an Easpaig anseo ar maidin. Cé nach raibh mé i láthair ag na himeachtaí, tuigim gur ócáid an-taitneamhach a bhí ann....