Results 9,021-9,040 of 9,393 for speaker:Alex White

Seanad: Order of Business (11 Mar 2008)

Alex White: I am sorry but I did not interrupt anybody. I have great sympathy with the position Senator Norris has taken in regard to this case but it is not appropriate that this House or a committee of the Oireachtas should determine what RTE broadcasts. That would be a step too far. We have had debates on integration and the Minister of State came to the House for an interesting preliminary debate...

Seanad: Order of Business (11 Mar 2008)

Alex White: It pointed out that newcomer students get two hours of English lessons per week. Senator Keaveney might respond to that.

Seanad: Order of Business (11 Mar 2008)

Alex White: She was getting very exercised.

Seanad: Order of Business (11 Mar 2008)

Alex White: Notwithstanding that they get two hours of English lessons per week, they must spend the rest of the day struggling to understand what teachers are saying in science class and elsewhere. This statement came from teachers involved in schools and who know what they are talking about. It is entirely inadequate that the teachers who provide these lessons get only one day's training. We do not...

Seanad: Order of Business (6 Mar 2008)

Alex White: All projects.

Seanad: Order of Business (6 Mar 2008)

Alex White: Yes.

Seanad: Protection of Employees (Agency Workers) (No. 2) Bill 2008: First Stage (6 Mar 2008)

Alex White: I move: That leave be granted to introduce a Bill entitled the Protection of Employees (Agency Workers)(No. 2) Bill 2008.

Seanad: Protection of Employees (Agency Workers) (No. 2) Bill 2008: First Stage (6 Mar 2008)

Alex White: Next Tuesday. Second Stage ordered for Tuesday, 11 March 2008.

Seanad: Order of Business (6 Mar 2008)

Alex White: On a day when several Ministers are attending a conference on practical transport initiatives to tackle climate change, it is extraordinary that not one of the flagship transport projects referred to by Senators O'Toole and Fitzgerald will be delivered on time. During the debates in the House on the economy and public infrastructure, we must sit through Ministers listing off initiatives and...

Seanad: Order of Business (6 Mar 2008)

Alex White: ——and all the fantastic achievements he loves to detail to us, how can it be that not one of these flagship projects will be delivered on time? The massive economic and social impact these delays will have must be faced up to. It is a matter for the Government, as Senators O'Toole and Fitzgerald stated earlier. The constant attempt to off-load responsibility to other agencies, notably...

Seanad: Passports Bill 2007: Second Stage (5 Mar 2008)

Alex White: I wish to share time with Senator Mullen. We will each have five minutes.

Seanad: Passports Bill 2007: Second Stage (5 Mar 2008)

Alex White: I welcome the introduction of the Passports Bill in this House. We are conscious that it has been the subject of debate in the other House and, as the Minister of State fairly acknowledged in his speech, a number of amendments tabled in that House were accepted in the course of the debate. That is a good thing. The principal point the Minister of State made, with which we all agree, is that...

Seanad: Order of Business (5 Mar 2008)

Alex White: I concur with Senator O'Toole that if the Minister for Education and Science has something she wishes to say or concessions or variations in policy planned, she should make a public announcement in the House, rather than at a meeting of the Fianna Fáil parliamentary party. I raised this issue a couple of weeks ago.

Seanad: Order of Business (5 Mar 2008)

Alex White: The chorus line on the Government benches has reduced this serious political and constitutional issue to one of jealousy. Government Senators should understand that our system does not have a parliament within a parliament but a single Parliament. They gave out on the previous occasion I raised this matter and asked whether Senators should be prevented from speaking to Ministers. I have no...

Seanad: Order of Business (5 Mar 2008)

Alex White: Senator Fitzgerald raised the retirement of the Reverend Ian Paisley, about much has been written and spoken in the past 12 hours or so. It is appropriate that the House should congratulate Dr. Paisley on his retirement and note the incredible achievements in the North for which he and others have been responsible in recent years. On a personal level, the House should wish him well in his...

Seanad: Order of Business. (4 Mar 2008)

Alex White: He cannot say "No" to that.

Seanad: Order of Business. (4 Mar 2008)

Alex White: How is that a point of order? That is not a point of order.

Seanad: Order of Business. (4 Mar 2008)

Alex White: We will support the Deputy on that.

Seanad: Order of Business. (4 Mar 2008)

Alex White: A Chathaoirligh, I thought you were a little hard on Senator O'Toole as he was doing very well with his comments on the construction industry, with which I agree. He also dealt well with Deputy Cregan's letter that Senator Fitzgerald raised. This would not be the first letter or article in a newspaper which was of a politically partisan nature, dressed up as a concern for balance in the...

Seanad: Order of Business. (4 Mar 2008)

Alex White: Members of that tribunal are prepared to challenge their own chairman. Given what we have heard today, there is a serious question mark over the chairman of the Refugee Appeals Tribunal and the integrity of that body. The Minister must come to the House to explain his views and state whether he agrees with me that there is now a serious question about the operation of the refugee appeals...