Category: press-release

Let’s Buy Irish and Buy Locally this Christmas

20th November 2013

Labour TD for Dublin South, Alex White has urged people to buy Irish and to buy locally his Christmas.

“Christmas can offer a real boost to our local retailers and the local economy in South Dublin. People are being extra cautious with their spending in the current economic climate, but I urge people to buy Christmas presents from small local businesses and self-employed people. Let’s make sure that our money goes to local people living in our community.

“I also want to alert people to the opportunities to buy from our local craftspeople that make jewellery, baked goods and a wide range of other locally produced crafts.

“The twelfth annual Marlay Craft Fair is taking place in Marlay House from Friday November 22nd to Sunday November 25th. Every Sunday, Park Markets take place in Cabinteely Park, the People’s Park in Dun Laoghaire and in Marlay Park.

“Research as part of the Deloitte Consumer Survey on Christmas spending showed that the average spend per household in Ireland this Christmas will be €894, with an average of €484.81 on gifts, €258.84 on food and €150.76 on socialising. With 31, 991 households in Dublin Rathdown, there’s a great opportunity to boost our local economy.

 

“By buying Irish and local goods and services, we are helping to keep jobs in Ireland, whilst supporting local companies and keeping our economy competitive. We can all contribute to local enterprises by making deliberate choices and selecting to buy Irish goods and services.”

Educate Together Announced as Patron for New Dublin South Secondary School

11th November 2013

Alex White, Labour TD for Dublin South, has welcomed the announcement that a new secondary school in Dublin South will be under the patronage of Educate Together.

“Educate Together operate multi-denominational, co-educational schools that are open to every child. The proposed, new secondary school will accommodate for an additional 1,000 student places.”

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ALEX WHITE WELCOMES SCHOOL BOOKS RENTAL SCHEME

7th November 2013

Alex White TD has warmly welcomed a book rental scheme for primary schools, which will reduce the cost burden on parents with young children. The Minister for Education Mr. Ruairí Quinn committed an extra €15 million over the next three years to support book rental schemes in schools that don’t currently have them.

 

“Book rental schemes have been very successful for many schools already and the schemes can result in savings of up to 80 per cent of the cost of school books for parents.”

 

“I’m delighted that the book rental scheme is expanding and that funds are being made available for more schools to avail of this excellent scheme.

 

“Back to school costs for children can pose a financial burden on families and this worthwhile initiative will make it easier for parents to manage.”

 

The book rental scheme funds will be paid to schools in the form of a seed capital grant, with DEIS schools receiving €150 per child and €100 per child in non-DEIS schools. The €15 million already provided to schools that currently operate these schemes will continue. This funding should be used to maintain an updated stock of school books.

ALEX WHITE WELCOMES NEW POSTCODE SYSTEM

10th October 2013

Dublin South TD, Alex White has welcomed the Government agreement for a new, national postcode system to be rolled out by 2015.

Each home in the country will receive a unique seven-character code, meaning that Ireland will be the first country in the world to have a public database of unique identifiers for all properties.

“This has been long promised and I want to commend Minister Rabbitte for concluding this in Government. Our postal system has needed modernising, as up to 30% of all domestic addresses are not unique. With the new post-code system, addresses will be far easier to locate.

“Many people use sat-nav and drivers will now be able to insert the new postcode into their devices rather than a lengthy address. This will make life considerably easier for our emergency services and especially ambulance drivers who need to get to specific locations quickly in order to save lives.

“The Postcode will be a seven character code in the format D16 B2CD. In South Dublin, existing postal districts will appear as the first three characters of the new postcode. For example, a house currently located in Dublin 16 will have a new postcode beginning with D16.

“Householders will be informed of their postcode in early 2015 and will be able to use it from then on.

“The new system, which will be operational in Spring 2015, will bring Ireland in line with other European countries where postcode systems have been the norm for many decades.”

WHITE HELPS SCOIL MHUIRE IN BALLYBODEN RAISE THEIR THIRD GREEN FLAG

3rd October 2013

Alex White visited Scoil Mhuire in Ballyboden to help raise their third Green Flag, which the school was recently awarded for water conservation.

Congratulating the children, Alex White TD said, “What a marvelous start to the school year on this beautiful Monday morning. I’m honoured to help the pupils and teachers of Scoil Mhuire raise their third Green Flag. This is an amazing achievement. Congratulations to all of the children and their teachers for their incredible hard work and commitment to environmentalism.

“The dedication of the school is very impressive. To think that Scoil Mhuire has already won a green flag for litter reduction and a second green flag for energy conservation. Now they have been awarded their third green flag which commends water conservation. There really is no stopping the success of Scoil Mhuire.

“It is great to see the next generation taking responsibility for our environment and showing adults how it’s done.”

THE CASE FOR RETENTION OF THE SEANAD HAS FAILED, VOTE YES ON FRIDAY – WHITE

1st October 2013

On Friday people have an opportunity to improve our democracy, to reform our government and legislature, and to change the way our politics works.

For those three reasons it is vital that people use their ballot and get out in numbers and vote Yes to the abolition of the Seanad.

In doing so people will be voting for real reform. Not only by doing away with an outmoded second chamber that is no longer fit for purpose. But also by precipitating further reforms of the Dail to ensure that we have a more effective and better functioning parliament.

In the absence of a yes vote, the status quo will remain. We will still have a second chamber that is unrepresentative, undemocratic, and unnecessary. People must understand that a no vote will not lead to a reformed Seanad. Rather, it will mean that a chamber that has long outlived its sell-by-date will remain in place.

Throughout this campaign I have heard the arguments from the No side.

Largely they concentrate on the potential of the Seanad, rather than anything it has done to date.

I have seen various proposals for reform. But none of these offer a new purpose or vision for the Seanad that can’t be done in a properly functioning Dail.

I have listened to suggestions to change the way we elect people to the second chamber. But none of these address the elitism that is inherent in drawing exclusively from special interest groups.

The Seanad belongs to a different time and a different period in Irish history. It was established to ensure representation for a particular group – unionists – that would not otherwise have been heard.

That concern no longer exists, and there is no clearly identifiable ethnic, social, or other group that requires such representation.

The case for retention of the Seanad has failed. The people now have the opportunity to have their say, and I would urge as many as possible to come out and cast their vote in and support Friday’s referendum.

MICHEAL MARTIN MISLEADING ON SEANAD REFORM

23rd September 2013

Speaking while campaigning in Kilkenny, Labour Minister Alex White said: “Micheal Martin’s commentary on the Seanad referendum today is very misleading in that it suggests that by rejecting the abolition of the Seanad, people will somehow be precipitating a process of major reform of the upper house.

“Nothing could be further from the truth, and Micheal Martin knows this well. In fact, the Seanad is an obstacle to real reform. Keeping it would simply maintain the status quo and would relegate, rather than bring forward, much-needed reform in our parliamentary system.

“Deputy Martin’s article is notable in that while it calls for reform, he has failed to put forward any proposals that are realistic or workable. Were his party genuinely serious about reform, surely they would have done something about it in their 14 years in office between 1997 and 2011.”

Statement by Alex White TD on Diageo’s ‘Arthur’s Day

23rd September 2013

“There is a serious problem, not only with the amount of alcohol we drink, but also with the harmful patterns in which it is consumed.

“Our accident and emergency departments, our Garda stations and the streets of our cities and towns are in the front line of public drunkenness and alcohol-related harm.

“It seems to me that Diageo has invented Arthur’s Day as a pseudo national holiday for the purposes of marketing its products – especially to young people – thereby stimulating greater consumption of alcohol.

“Regrettably, there are too many days of the week and of the year on which over-consumption of alcohol is a real problem, and we do not need to contrive another.

“The hard truth about alcohol in Ireland is that we drink too much and we drink in too harmful a way.  The only safe public health message is to reduce the amount of alcohol that we drink as a nation.  Doing so is the only means of reducing the harm to our health and to our society caused by alcohol.”

WHITE TO HOLD PUBLIC MEETING ON THE SEANAD REFERENDUM

18th September 2013

WHERE: The Goat, Kilmacud Road, Goatstown Dublin 14
WHEN:   8PM, Thursday Sept. 26th
WHO:     Open to members of the public and the media

Alex White TD will hold a public meeting where an open discussion will take place on the Seanad and the Court of Appeal referenda. This public event will take place on Thursday Sept. 26th at 8pm at the Goat in Goatstown, Dublin 14. Also speaking at the event will be Kevin Rafter, an author and political academic, who is campaigning for the abolition of the Seanad with the One House Group.

“I’m inviting people to come along on Thursday to the Goat and to share their views on the Seanad referendum. Whenever a referendum is called to change our Constitution, it’s vitally important that citizens participate in the process, not only by voting but also by being actively engaged in the issues at stake.

“The role and purpose of Seanad Eireann has been debated over many years. We in the Labour Party have taken a long hard look at the Senate, and rather than maintain it on the basis of a role it potentially could have, we believe there is no function the Seanad can perform that cannot be done by a strengthened Dáil Éireann. That’s why I’m campaigning for a YES vote in the referendum.

“Even those who say we should keep the Senate appear to accept that it is fundamentally flawed, forcing them to ground their campaign on contradictory, and largely unworkable proposals for “reform”.

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