Labour doesn’t seem too confident about re-election. It’s re-appointing quango members six months ahead of time! https://t.co/Lumr8bq5Nm — NAMAwinelake (@namawinelake) January 20, 2016
“I don’t understand why Minister for Communications Alex White is so averse to legislation to clean up past media ownership deals that are strangling freedom of speech (“McDowell ‘chancing his arm’, says Minister”). In the past Mr White has vigorously defended openness. But he is guardian of an industry where Denis O’Brien has been allowed a controlling interest in media from Antrim to Kerry, in print and on the airwaves.”
“Diversity is obviously necessary in media ownership. But both the Competition Authority and the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland have been remiss in protecting the public interest on this issue. Why? It seems to me that corporate power speaks loudest in the ears of each of these bodies.”
“Mr White believes “constitutional property rights” prevent retrospective legislation. But the nursing home charges in 2004 were installed under a retrospective law. Neither the Supreme Court nor his own Government have done anything to reverse that situation. The constitution forbids retrospective criminal legislation, but is silent on such retrospective civil legislation as this.”
“Sadly I fear Mr White gets to the heart of the issue when he also cites “labyrinthine commercial issues”. It’s my guess that, at the heart of that labyrinth is a Denis O’Brien, still awaiting his Theseus.
RONAN BRADY,
Dublin 7.”
Labour TD Alex White, top, and Sinn Féin’s Peadar Tóibín during Leaders’ Questions this morning
Labour TD and Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources Alex White took Leaders’ Questions this morning.
During it, Sinn Féin’s Peadar Tóibín raised the issue of Siteserv.
Peadar Tóibín: “Are members of the Cabinet aware of any individual who was a shareholder of Siteserv who would have had access to IBRC information, around the sale of Siteserv, and who would have information around Irish Water’s Siteserv tender [for water meter installation].”
Minister Alex White “It’s a classic tactic of Sinn Féin to level, to level allegations, which have no grounds, which he presents no grounds for, masquerading as a question, masquerading as a question, that is a classic tactic of the party. There is absolutely no basis. Now the answer, the answer to the question, the answer to the question.
I’m a member of the Cabinet, I certainly am not aware and I can only answer for myself but I just, I, I, I believe that the manner in which the deputy poses questions, a little like the way his party’s colleagues, including [Sinn Féin] Deputy [Mary Lou] McDonald operate in this house, make allegations without any foundation, leave them on the record and make no effort whatsoever to ensure that there’s any kind of a reasonable basis for what’s being said. And that means a leas ceann comhairle, that means a leas ceann comhairle, that the deputy’s [inaudible] cannot be taken seriously in relation to anything they say, anything they say whatsoever.”
Every day, TDs submit something called ‘Topical Issues’. Four are picked for discussion in the Chamber. This week, due to the Government’s Party Political Broadcast, aka the Spring Economic Statement, topical issues were tabled for today only.
So Catherine Murphy TD and I tabled one on the potential conflict of interest involved in having KPMG investigate a sales process (SiteServ) which KPMG was involved in running, in a dead bank that KPMG was the auditor of. Oh yes.It wasn’t selected. But here are two of the four that were:
1. The status of the integration of the former Newbridge Credit Union into Permanent TSB. 2. Proposals to route construction traffic through Donabate town centre for the construction of the National Forensic Mental Hospital.
Both important issues for those involved, to be sure…but really I forget sometimes just how low the bar is set in Ireland….
Top: Communications Minister Alex White (centre) with Shawna Scott (in white blouse centre) and fellow winners of awards from the IE Domain Registry. Above: Shawna with IEDR’s Finance & Operations Manager, Angela Butler.
Sex Siopa, the non sleazy irish online shop for bedroom toys and whatnot.
Now state approved!
Seattle-born Irish citizen and Sex Siopa founder Shawna Scott writes:
There’s been a press embargo till this morning, but something really awesome happened last week that I’d like to share with Broadsheet.Last Thursday SexSiopa.ie was presented with an award from the IE Domain Registry by Alex White T.D., Minister for Communications, Energy, and Natural Resources.
This makes us the first sex shop in the history of the State, possibly the world (at least that’s what my initial Google searches have lead me to believe) to receive an award from a government official.
Denis O’Brien, who has a 29.9% stake in Independent News and Media and who owns the Communicorp radio group
Draft Government guidelines on media ownership are to be released by Communications Minister Alex White later today.
It follows the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland determining, in July 2012, that Denis O’Brien does not own Independent News and Media but, rather, that he has a ‘substantial interest’ in the company.
Ahead of this, Fiach Kelly, in the Irish Times, reports:
New Government guidelines on media mergers say it is “undesirable” for one person or business to hold excessive influence and introduce a “public value” test for future consolidation in the industry.
The draft guidelines, which will apply across print, broadcast and online, also set out thresholds that specify how many shares or holdings are needed to be able to influence the “direction or policy … with regard to news, current affairs or cultural content”.
They say that “a holding or voting strength of more than 20 per cent … will generally constitute a significant interest”, while a 10 per cent share could also constitute a “significant interest”.
On last night’s Tonight with Vincent Browne, Vincent was joined by Louise Bayliss of single parent action group SPARK Parents to review the papers.
A headline about the Labour leadership contest in the Irish Examiner grabbed her attention.
Vincent Browne: “Louise, what do you want to focus on?”
Louise Bayliss: “Well I’m just looking in here again. We’re having ‘Former Labour deputy backs Burton’, this is inside in the Irish Examiner, page 6 of the Irish Examiner. And you’re just looking at it and you’re saying Burton and…”
Browne: “This is [Labour stalwart and former government minister] Barry Desmond yeah.”
Louise Bayliss: “You’re looking and going [Joan]Burton and Alex White, you know what is the choice there? Like, I feel sorry, I genuinely I say this hand on heart, I feel sorry for grassroot Labour members who put their faith in Labour and are now coming up with a contest between Minister Burton and Alex White. I mean Minister Burton, I know I’m coming from a lone parent’s point of view but only two weeks ago I was at a meeting in the Department of Social Protection where they were talking about the cuts coming in place for lone parents and for some reason even though I would be very aware of what was happening, I never expected that they would make no exception for lone parents with a disabled child and they haven’t. And from next July, a lone parent with a disabled child will lose €86 a week from their weekly income when their child turns 7. For no other reason, their child turns 7, they lose €86 from their weekly income. 27% of their income, that’s a decision made specifically by Minister Burton. That’s not imposed on her by anybody, that was chosen by her and when we’ve tried to put this out she will not listen us. And then we have the other choice of..”
Browne: “Have you spoken to her about this?”
Bayliss: “We have spoken to her.”
Browne: “Person to person?”
Bayliss: “I actually have spoken to her person to person.”
Browne: “And what did she say?”
Bayliss: [Waves hand] “We’ll sort it out, we’ll sort it out. She basically would not debate with us. We’ve written to her. I spoke to her face to face and she just literally just waved me aside as if my concerns meant nothing and you know I think we’re talking about austerity and I do not know any other sector who could take a 27% cut in their income and yet a lone parent; 98% who are women, are going to lose 27% of their income because their disabled child turns 7. They are no more able to work when their child was 6. They are trapped at home and there’s nobody speaking up for them and you know when I look at this and I know that Labour grassroot members hear what I’m saying and they look and they have this choice to make between Minister White who defended medical card cuts and Minister Burton who thinks a lone parent with a disabled child can bear the most cuts, I feel saddened for the Labour party.”
Browne: “Do you think it makes any difference who’s Labour leader?”
Bayliss: “No, I don’t. At this stage, I don’t. Not from the choices that are made here.”
(Labour’s Alex White, top and yesterday’s Irish Mail on Sunday)
To give your family a little help.
And what sort of thanks do you get?
In a statement, he said that he had sent an email from his Oireachtas account on behalf of his daughter, seeking to have her student medical placement switched from Letterkenny to Sligo “for family reasons”.
“I should have taken greater care to ensure it was sent from a personal email account,” he said. Mr White said that he had not referred to himself in the email as a junior minister and instead signed it in the names of himself and his wife.
Labour’s replacement for Roisin Shorthall as junior minister in the Department of Health?
We literally have no idea.
But we found this from a pro-life website in August:
The Labour Party TD, Alex White, has admitted that the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) cannot ‘require’ Ireland to legislate on abortion, according to a report in the Sunday Times.
His comments were made in response to questions from journalist Sarah McInerney in a lengthy feature on abortion. It was put to Mr White that the Fine Gael TD, Lucinda Creighton, who is a barrister, had told a Fine Gael parliamentary party meeting that, unlike a directive from the European Court of Justice, an ECHR judgment is not legally binding.
According to the Sunday Times, White, also a barrister, ‘reluctantly’ agreed. “The ECHR doesn’t require a state to do something,” he admitted, though he argued that the Court’s judgments had a “heavy persuasive effect”.
Deputy White’s remarks were in contrast to earlier claims from Labour that Ireland was required to act on the ECHR ruling in the ABC case – and was required to legislate for abortion.
