Results 2,221-2,240 of 6,030 for speaker:Brendan Ryan

Seanad: Budget Statement 2005: Motion. (7 Dec 2005)

Brendan Ryan: Over the coming days we will be presented with multi-annual figures for various expenditures of a capital nature which people will try to pretend all relate to this year. In fact, many of them have to be divided by five to figure out what is going on. I have no problem with multi-annual budgeting but we should not get involved in arguments about statistical manipulation with a Government that...

Seanad: Budget Statement 2005: Motion. (7 Dec 2005)

Brendan Ryan: I welcome a number of measures in the budget, particularly the recognition that the rich were paying no taxes. Until recently the Government's position was "let them at it, let them rip" but after a few electoral rebuffs it rediscovered its concern for equity in the tax system. That is most welcome. I recognise the delicate sensitivities of the super-rich when they hear it will be some time...

Seanad: Budget Statement 2005: Motion. (7 Dec 2005)

Brendan Ryan: ——and now that the buddies have got rich and are spending their money outside the country, there is not much point in continuing them? One wonders about the strategy in the same way that one wonders about many other things. There are welcome aspects to the budget. Any attempt to reduce the burden of tax on people on middle incomes is very welcome but we must remind ourselves that the...

Seanad: Budget Statement 2005: Motion. (7 Dec 2005)

Brendan Ryan: Senator Mansergh is upsetting me. The Government has done what it accused the rest of us of doing. It has picked on the middle income earners and made them the major source of revenue in the same way that the charges for waste disposal and all the other charges will suddenly——

Seanad: Budget Statement 2005: Motion. (7 Dec 2005)

Brendan Ryan: The greatest act of fiction I have read in a long time is the Minister of State's remarks on decentralisation, which is not happening. It is astonishing that there is no longer any mention of waiting lists in Government budgetary expenditure because the Government has abolished the term "waiting lists". It no longer talks about them. The 3,000 beds we were promised have now disappeared off...

Seanad: Order of Business. (8 Dec 2005)

Brendan Ryan: I will be looking warily to my right all through my contribution. My colleague, Senator O'Meara, was brought up not to boast so I am instructed not to boast on her behalf.

Seanad: Order of Business. (8 Dec 2005)

Brendan Ryan: I have an unusual request to make and my credentials on the issue of homelessness are not so weak that I will be misunderstood. I do not think we should have a debate on homelessness before Christmas. The issue and its symptoms are far too extensive to be fitted into a debate lasting one hour or 90 minutes in a crowded sitting next week. I would prefer the House to have a serious debate in...

Seanad: Order of Business. (8 Dec 2005)

Brendan Ryan: Hear, hear.

Seanad: Order of Business. (8 Dec 2005)

Brendan Ryan: Hear, hear.

Seanad: Oncology Services: Statements. (8 Dec 2005)

Brendan Ryan: Debates such as this can sometimes be wasted by Government bashing, of which I propose to do a little, because there is much more to the issue. I wish the Government had made greater advances in many areas, some of which I will mention. Although there is no point in failing to acknowledge progress, a number of questions arise. I am not trying to diminish the significance of advances in...

Seanad: Statute Law Revision (Pre-1922) Bill 2004 [Seanad Bill amended by the Dáil]: Report and Final Stages. (8 Dec 2005)

Brendan Ryan: Deputy Cassidy would be very upset at that.

Seanad: Statute Law Revision (Pre-1922) Bill 2004 [Seanad Bill amended by the Dáil]: Report and Final Stages. (8 Dec 2005)

Brendan Ryan: The rendition of coffee.

Seanad: Statute Law Revision (Pre-1922) Bill 2004 [Seanad Bill amended by the Dáil]: Report and Final Stages. (8 Dec 2005)

Brendan Ryan: This is almost a trivial exercise except an enormous amount of work has gone into it.

Seanad: Statute Law Revision (Pre-1922) Bill 2004 [Seanad Bill amended by the Dáil]: Report and Final Stages. (8 Dec 2005)

Brendan Ryan: I commend the Minister of State, his Department and staff. I am not supposed to mention them but they deserve great credit for this work. I thank the Minister of State for this list of laws, and I will hold on to the document.

Seanad: Statute Law Revision (Pre-1922) Bill 2004 [Seanad Bill amended by the Dáil]: Report and Final Stages. (8 Dec 2005)

Brendan Ryan: I will mention some of the laws. I have a question about the Sacrament Act 1547, which dealt with abuses against the Blessed Sacrament. The law was published after the Reformation, so why did an Act of Parliament deal with terminology such as "the Blessed Sacrament" in what was now Protestant England?

Seanad: Statute Law Revision (Pre-1922) Bill 2004 [Seanad Bill amended by the Dáil]: Report and Final Stages. (8 Dec 2005)

Brendan Ryan: I am not sure. There were many wobbles and I am not sure where the church had wobbled to at that stage. The matter is a curiosity. I am fascinated by the history of the Earl of Kildare, as I speak as a native of County Kildare. There are a succession of related revisions, including the Restitution of the Earl of Kildare 1495, which was followed by the Attainder of the Earl of Kildare 1534....

Seanad: Statute Law Revision (Pre-1922) Bill 2004 [Seanad Bill amended by the Dáil]: Report and Final Stages. (8 Dec 2005)

Brendan Ryan: Garret Mór was restored as ruler of Ireland in 1487, and just over 40 years later his son was hanged. It is pity that some of the laws cannot be kept on the Statute Book without fear of them having an effect.

Seanad: Statute Law Revision (Pre-1922) Bill 2004 [Seanad Bill amended by the Dáil]: Report and Final Stages. (8 Dec 2005)

Brendan Ryan: Apart from the obligation of tidying up, what legal force did any of these laws have? Is there a secret fear in the depths of some Department that somebody will use them? There was allegedly a student in Trinity College, Dublin, who demanded a glass of sherry, wine or ale with his examinations because of a statute in the college. He was told he was not wearing his sword so he would have to...

Seanad: Statute Law Revision (Pre-1922) Bill 2004 [Seanad Bill amended by the Dáil]: Report and Final Stages. (8 Dec 2005)

Brendan Ryan: They could not have a row about this Bill in the Dáil.

Seanad: Statute Law Revision (Pre-1922) Bill 2004 [Seanad Bill amended by the Dáil]: Report and Final Stages. (8 Dec 2005)

Brendan Ryan: No wonder lawyers are rich.