Results 2,501-2,520 of 6,030 for speaker:Brendan Ryan

Seanad: State Airports: Motion. (26 Apr 2006)

Brendan Ryan: I hope Senator Wilson also respects Senator McCarthy. He would be very disappointed if he did not respect him.

Seanad: State Airports: Motion. (26 Apr 2006)

Brendan Ryan: Among the qualities given to me by the good Lord is my sense of humour, which has survived in spite of the vicissitudes of politics. I am also an engineer and, therefore, comfortable dealing with numbers. Fortunately, having spent long and tedious hours here dealing with legislation, I am also comfortable dealing with legal matters. When I hear a Minister give a speech comprised of hot air...

Seanad: State Airports: Motion. (26 Apr 2006)

Brendan Ryan: We do not know what the correct figure is anymore. The Minister told Cork Airport but he will not tell anybody else. He will obviously wait until after the next general election. He informs this House that it was a readjustment that was necessary before the legislation was introduced in the Houses of the Oireachtas. This is in spite of the fact that part of his speech referred to the...

Seanad: State Airports: Motion. (26 Apr 2006)

Brendan Ryan: I am about to finish. I have rarely heard a more disingenuous defence of Government policy than I heard tonight when a Minister attempted to say that we were making things up but then discovered he could not deliver his own script because it conceded that our point was essentially true and he was making up a story that bore no relation to reality. This has been confirmed by the amendment in...

Seanad: Order of Business. (10 May 2006)

Brendan Ryan: There are few things more threatening to the perception of a valid democracy than the suggestion that the security forces enter into partisan politics. If, for instance, the armed forces were to take a similar stance, we would be rightly alarmed. However, I do not dispute the right of individual members of such forces to make political representations. It appears that the GRA missed this...

Seanad: Order of Business. (10 May 2006)

Brendan Ryan: Hear, hear.

Seanad: Order of Business. (10 May 2006)

Brendan Ryan: Hear, hear.

Seanad: Order of Business. (10 May 2006)

Brendan Ryan: Nor have the police.

Seanad: Road Safety Authority Bill 2004: Second Stage. (10 May 2006)

Brendan Ryan: That is just jealousy.

Seanad: Road Safety Authority Bill 2004: Second Stage. (10 May 2006)

Brendan Ryan: Will the Acting Chairman indicate to me when I reach six or seven minutes? I want to leave some time for my colleagues.

Seanad: Road Safety Authority Bill 2004: Second Stage. (10 May 2006)

Brendan Ryan: According to the Order of Business, the Minister will respond at 4.50 p.m.

Seanad: Road Safety Authority Bill 2004: Second Stage. (10 May 2006)

Brendan Ryan: I will try to finish before my time has concluded. I want to speak in this debate, not because it is part of my brief but because every two or three weeks I have raised on the Order of Business a variety of issues on road safety. It is worth stating that a great deal must be done. One of the most terrifying facts is that back in the 1970s, the figure for road fatalities was in the mid-600s. I...

Seanad: Electoral Register: Motion. (10 May 2006)

Brendan Ryan: I was intrigued to hear that the Bill introduced by my party was unworkable. All I heard was that our Bill would establish an independent quango. I paid a visit to Ethiopia last week as part of a delegation from the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs. That country is in a state of considerable electoral chaos because both the Government and the Opposition have claimed victory in...

Seanad: Electoral Register: Motion. (10 May 2006)

Brendan Ryan: I await the Minister of State's response. Who could disagree with anything in the motion? One hopes the Minister of State will accept the Opposition's views but that carries optimism too far. I do not want a hope for the best or a promise that the Government will try better in future, but a structured, funded and staffed plan to ensure a dynamically active and continuous review of the...

Seanad: Order of Business. (11 May 2006)

Brendan Ryan: I love to see Senator O'Toole in his apologetic mode.

Seanad: Order of Business. (11 May 2006)

Brendan Ryan: I am naturally humble.

Seanad: Order of Business. (11 May 2006)

Brendan Ryan: That is a bit old. First, I must apologise to the House.

Seanad: Order of Business. (11 May 2006)

Brendan Ryan: Instead of leaving it to land on everyone's lap, I should have done my colleagues the courtesy of telling them the Labour Party is publishing a Bill. I am speaking about the genealogy and heraldry Bill and would be happy to arrange a briefing during the coming weeks for anyone who is interested, courtesy of the Genealogical Society of Ireland, at the insistence of which we will publish the...

Seanad: Order of Business. (11 May 2006)

Brendan Ryan: I agree with my colleagues about the need for a broad debate on energy. On energy supply, one of the critical issues for ordinary people is the price they are paying. I have received a number of allegations that every time Bord Gáis increases gas prices because of increased wholesale gas costs, the standing charge increases proportionately. I can understand that Bord Gáis needs to increase...

Seanad: Order of Business. (11 May 2006)

Brendan Ryan: In that case, Senator Quinn should mind himself.