Results 2,761-2,780 of 6,030 for speaker:Brendan Ryan

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

Brendan Ryan: I assure the Senator I am young enough and healthy enough to notice all of that, thanks be to God. Evidence suggests a certain level of smoking still occurs. We must consider everything. The idea that increasing the price of cigarettes too much encourages smuggling is a classic Department of Finance excuse. It is not to do with smuggling, it is to do with declining revenue. It is probable...

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

Brendan Ryan: If they do, it should be prohibited. Places with large numbers of people and public access should not have retail outlets which sell cigarettes. They should not be sold within a 100 yard radius of such places. Putting up every obstacle possible is the most effective action that can be taken. Regarding diagnosis, I fully accept the need for a limited number of centres of excellence and the...

Seanad: Housing (Stage Payments) Bill 2006: Second Stage. (28 Jun 2006)

Brendan Ryan: The Minister of State should be aware that Members are familiar with that particular refrain.

Seanad: Housing (Stage Payments) Bill 2006: Second Stage. (28 Jun 2006)

Brendan Ryan: "May be contrary".

Seanad: Housing (Stage Payments) Bill 2006: Second Stage. (28 Jun 2006)

Brendan Ryan: There are few spectacles more unedifying than that of Fianna Fáil wriggling under pressure from the construction industry.

Seanad: Housing (Stage Payments) Bill 2006: Second Stage. (28 Jun 2006)

Brendan Ryan: It shows the extraordinary way in which the now almost-mythological tent at the Galway races, visited by the greatest——

Seanad: Housing (Stage Payments) Bill 2006: Second Stage. (28 Jun 2006)

Brendan Ryan: One does not have to be there at all, Fianna Fáil just gets funded from it. The Galway branch of the party is now so disgusted it will not attend either but some people in the party are determined to continue with the practice. We know who turns up, including people who were required to pay €22.5 million in taxes of which they had defrauded this country.

Seanad: Housing (Stage Payments) Bill 2006: Second Stage. (28 Jun 2006)

Brendan Ryan: Let me go through what has been said. This is a simple Bill to prohibit the ripping off of young people buying houses. The Minister of State can put a long speech together but when one strips it down one realises it amounts to a statement to the effect that some builders from certain parts of the country, particularly Cork, discovered that they had, in a sellers' market, the capacity to make...

Seanad: Housing (Stage Payments) Bill 2006: Second Stage. (28 Jun 2006)

Brendan Ryan: Why were the Minister of State's officials dealing with the issue if it is not his business? It is either his business or it is not.

Seanad: Housing (Stage Payments) Bill 2006: Second Stage. (28 Jun 2006)

Brendan Ryan: If it is voluntary, it is the Minister of State's business, and if it is legally based, it is not. Give us a break.

Seanad: Housing (Stage Payments) Bill 2006: Second Stage. (28 Jun 2006)

Brendan Ryan: We know what is going on. The Minister of State is one of the nicest people I know but he is stuck in an impossible position whereby decisions are being taken over his head not to upset the CIF in a year in which fairly substantial funding will be needed by a substantial number of Fianna Fáil Ministers. Not long ago, a Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government addressed the...

Seanad: Housing (Stage Payments) Bill 2006: Second Stage. (28 Jun 2006)

Brendan Ryan: I am, I am just making an analogy. If many of the builders who pay €100,000 for a car were told by the garages from which they buy them that they would have to pay 90% of the cost up-front before getting them, which might take six months, they would tell them to get lost. The idea that they would have to order and pay for a car now and wait for its delivery would cause apoplexy among those...

Seanad: Housing (Stage Payments) Bill 2006: Second Stage. (28 Jun 2006)

Brendan Ryan: I did not say it was a comparison, I said it was an analogy. It illustrates how uniquely sensitive to the interests and considerations of the building industry Fianna Fáil has been, is and proposes to continue to be. I do not understand the position of its partners in Government, who are committed unequivocally to an economic model that involves genuine competition between people in a...

Seanad: National Sports Campus Development Authority Bill 2006: Committee Stage. (28 Jun 2006)

Brendan Ryan: Can the Minister give me any reason for not including a fixed time limit? We are told the Bill is of considerable urgency and yet there is no establishment date. It is when the Minister is ready to do so. This is an old issue of mine. I would have thought it would be appropriate to include a date — a maximum of three months, two months or one month. In the case of a body which is urgent,...

Seanad: National Sports Campus Development Authority Bill 2006: Committee Stage. (28 Jun 2006)

Brendan Ryan: I have a couple of questions for the Minister. I may have missed this matter, although I looked through the definitions. Subsection (2) states that the authority may develop and provide on the site such facilities and services of a commercial nature. As there are now so many definitions of commercial, what does that mean? Does it mean that the revenue must exceed the outgoings on an annual...

Seanad: National Sports Campus Development Authority Bill 2006: Committee Stage. (28 Jun 2006)

Brendan Ryan: That is not what I asked the Minister. Does "commercial" mean the developments mentioned in section 7(2)(a) would have to be entirely self-financing? For instance, would the developers have to include the cost of the site in their budgets? Would they pay the market value for the site and fund the capital cost or would such projects be regarded as commercial as long as revenue exceeded...

Seanad: National Sports Campus Development Authority Bill 2006: Committee Stage. (28 Jun 2006)

Brendan Ryan: The Minister did not answer my question about what "commercial" means, which is a pity. For example, the Railway Procurement Agency claimed the Luas made a profit last year. While its revenue exceeded its expenditure, the agency did not include the €700 million capital cost of the infrastructure. As I try to educate young engineers, that is not a profit. I am a little concerned about...

Seanad: National Sports Campus Development Authority Bill 2006: Committee Stage. (28 Jun 2006)

Brendan Ryan: Section 7(7) states, "The Minister may approve, with such modifications (if any) as he or she considers appropriate, a plan submitted to him or her by the Authority...". Does the Bill make provision to prevent the Minister modifying the plans in a way that might affect their viability by increasing the authority's expenditure while reducing its revenue? If the Minister is seeking the power to...

Seanad: National Sports Campus Development Authority Bill 2006: Committee Stage. (28 Jun 2006)

Brendan Ryan: We are at cross purposes. If significant public funds are due to be expended, nobody will dispute the Minster should have the final say but the issue is modification of the plans. Has provision been made to prevent a Minister modifying plans under section 7(3), 7(4) and 7(5) in a way that could increase the expenditure of the authority and reduce its revenue? I have no problems with the...

Seanad: National Sports Campus Development Authority Bill 2006: Committee Stage. (28 Jun 2006)

Brendan Ryan: In that case, what does section 7(7) mean?