Results 2,741-2,760 of 6,030 for speaker:Brendan Ryan

Seanad: Defence (Amendment) Bill 2006: Committee and Remaining Stages. (28 Jun 2006)

Brendan Ryan: It is a bit pointless to ask the Acting Chairman to defend me against Senator Mansergh but I would like to speak without interruption.

Seanad: Defence (Amendment) Bill 2006: Committee and Remaining Stages. (28 Jun 2006)

Brendan Ryan: If the formation of the next Government is not extraneous, there is nothing I can say that is. However, I will try to confine my remarks to the Bill. The triple lock does not represent an inhibition of the scale some of my friends in Fine Gael believe it to be, yet I would not rely too much on Javier Solana as an authority. When Mr. Solana first came to Ireland, he wanted to talk about the...

Seanad: Defence (Amendment) Bill 2006: Committee and Remaining Stages. (28 Jun 2006)

Brendan Ryan: I am glad we are making progress on this issue. At least the entanglement of the Oireachtas in foreign affairs is now accepted. I do not agree with Senator Brian Hayes on this issue although there is much merit to his argument. The solution is to create a UN structure whereby we can assume that we will only rarely have to draw on superpower status. Chances are that, within ten years, there...

Seanad: Defence (Amendment) Bill 2006: Committee and Remaining Stages. (28 Jun 2006)

Brendan Ryan: No.

Seanad: Defence (Amendment) Bill 2006: Committee and Remaining Stages. (28 Jun 2006)

Brendan Ryan: Fianna Fáil promised a referendum without looking at it. Well done.

Seanad: Defence (Amendment) Bill 2006: Committee and Remaining Stages. (28 Jun 2006)

Brendan Ryan: This has been an interesting use of our time. By definition, all law can throw up anomalies. One only needs to recall recent events. When the Supreme Court ruled that Mr. A would be returned to prison, it declared that it would publish its reasons the following Thursday, but we are still waiting. That shows how complicated law is as the eminent judges of the Supreme Court are trying to find a...

Seanad: Defence (Amendment) Bill 2006: Committee and Remaining Stages. (28 Jun 2006)

Brendan Ryan: I apologise to the two ladies involved.

Seanad: Defence (Amendment) Bill 2006: Committee and Remaining Stages. (28 Jun 2006)

Brendan Ryan: That is a matter for another day, but one can discuss the Judiciary, as many Supreme Court judges have told me. When I say at public meetings that we cannot discuss the Judiciary, the judges always ask why not and who said so. We cannot libel judges and we cannot attribute evil motives to them, but we are perfectly entitled to speak about their rulings. I have been involved in debates in...

Seanad: Defence (Amendment) Bill 2006: Committee and Remaining Stages. (28 Jun 2006)

Brendan Ryan: Yes. There will always be anomalies in law, especially international law. In this case, I believe that the argument, due to the anomalies, lies in favour of the status quo.

Seanad: Defence (Amendment) Bill 2006: Committee and Remaining Stages. (28 Jun 2006)

Brendan Ryan: We are very good at remembering them here.

Seanad: Defence (Amendment) Bill 2006: Committee and Remaining Stages. (28 Jun 2006)

Brendan Ryan: I move amendment No. 8: In page 6, lines 26 and 27, to delete "and Dáil Éireann may by resolution approve of the report". I know the Minister will claim this is a direct transposition from the previous legislation. However, I believe it is a peculiar phrase. Section 13 states, "The Minister shall, as soon as practicable after 1st day of January in each year beginning with 1st day of January...

Seanad: Defence (Amendment) Bill 2006: Committee and Remaining Stages. (28 Jun 2006)

Brendan Ryan: It would not have that effect.

Seanad: Defence (Amendment) Bill 2006: Committee and Remaining Stages. (28 Jun 2006)

Brendan Ryan: As the House is aware, I am married to a psychiatrist. I will ask her for a definition of "willful paranoia" because I have not previously heard of that illness.

Seanad: Defence (Amendment) Bill 2006: Committee and Remaining Stages. (28 Jun 2006)

Brendan Ryan: I do not intend to press the amendment. The Minister essentially indicated that the section is intended to give the impression that the Dáil can debate reports, while not obliging it to do so.

Seanad: Defence (Amendment) Bill 2006: Committee and Remaining Stages. (28 Jun 2006)

Brendan Ryan: It would be better to delete the phrase, as we propose, and substitute it with "and shall be debated by Dáil Éireann within 6 months". It might not be a bad idea to lay the report before both Houses so that a debate could be held in the Seanad. I ask the Minister to consider this proposal while the Bill progresses through the other House. There is a real chance that the reports will be...

Seanad: Defence (Amendment) Bill 2006: Committee and Remaining Stages. (28 Jun 2006)

Brendan Ryan: I claim vindication for the Labour Party, which for many years has pointed out the existence of a legal anomaly. It is good that the Attorney General finally recognised the truth of my party's claim. Fianna Fáil is adept at belated conversions, as was revealed by Senator Mansergh during this debate.

Seanad: Defence (Amendment) Bill 2006: Committee and Remaining Stages. (28 Jun 2006)

Brendan Ryan: Getting my Dáil colleagues to take Seanad Éireann seriously is almost as difficult as getting the Government to do so.

Seanad: A Strategy for Cancer Control in Ireland: Statements. (28 Jun 2006)

Brendan Ryan: Cuirim fáilte roimh an Aire Stáit. Cé nach raibh mé i láthair, bhíos ag éisteacht leis. Moreover, I have examined his script thoroughly. Senator Glynn's last remarks regarding the extraordinary terror which cancer strikes into most people were spot on. I recall that my own late and much-loved father could never describe it as anything other than "the lad".

Seanad: A Strategy for Cancer Control in Ireland: Statements. (28 Jun 2006)

Brendan Ryan: While he never had cancer and did not die from the condition, it lurked in the background. Much of the fear relates to the time before the development of the palliative care and hospice movements which facilitated the realisation, organisation and delivery of the capacity to provide people with palliative care. Before then, horrendous stories were heard regarding the conditions of people in...

Seanad: A Strategy for Cancer Control in Ireland: Statements. (28 Jun 2006)

Brendan Ryan: I had enough fun with Senator Mansergh for one day. I genuinely believe this raises an issue about how Departments do their business. They are not good at parallel thinking and planning. Will the Minister of State seriously consider this matter? I am disappointed at how limited our efforts on prevention are. I am not sure what current statistics are on young people smoking. From anecdotally...