Results 2,801-2,820 of 6,030 for speaker:Brendan Ryan
- Seanad: National Sports Campus Development Authority Bill 2006: Committee Stage. (28 Jun 2006)
Brendan Ryan: Can the Minister indicate why the chief executive would not be in a position to question or express an opinion on the merits of any policy of the Government if he or she was called before an Oireachtas committee? He or she is forbidden to do so in appearing before the Committee of Public Accounts. What is it in section 21 that means he or she is not free to state whatever he wishes?
- Seanad: National Sports Campus Development Authority Bill 2006: Committee Stage. (28 Jun 2006)
Brendan Ryan: I know this is the Minister's view. Why does section 21 not contain a clause equivalent to section 20(5)?
- Seanad: National Sports Campus Development Authority Bill 2006: Committee Stage. (28 Jun 2006)
Brendan Ryan: Although I do not wish to delay the House unnecessarily, let us suppose that the first issue that arises is the length of time it takes to reply to queries from Members of the Oireachtas. The chief executive may reply that funding is not sufficient, a clear criticism of Government policy. The Minister believes the chief executive should not do that. Section 21 does not contain a clause...
- Seanad: National Sports Campus Development Authority Bill 2006: Committee Stage. (28 Jun 2006)
Brendan Ryan: This could occur when he or she appears before the Committee of Public Accounts to address accounting issues. The chief executive officer is forbidden from addressing public policy when dealing with the Committee of Public Accounts, which is exclusively concerned with proper expenditure and value for money. He or she can speak on general administration to any other committee with no prohibition.
- Seanad: National Sports Campus Development Authority Bill 2006: Committee Stage. (28 Jun 2006)
Brendan Ryan: If the Government gives direction to the authority, will it be made public? Can the Government give private direction to the authority, unknown to the rest of us?
- Seanad: National Sports Campus Development Authority Bill 2006: Committee Stage. (28 Jun 2006)
Brendan Ryan: This section intrigues me. I believe it was copied from another Bill. The section reads: The Authority or a subsidiary may borrow money (including money in a currency other than the currency of the State) for the purpose of performing any of the functions of the Authority, but shall not do so without the approval of the Minister given with the consent of the Minister for Finance. We are part...
- Seanad: National Sports Campus Development Authority Bill 2006: Committee Stage. (28 Jun 2006)
Brendan Ryan: Borrowing dollars last year would have been a daft arrangement because two years ago the dollar was worth â¬1.20. It is now worth â¬0.80. This body would have lost a third of the value of its borrowing in euro within two years. I believe this section was taken from an old Bill that predates the euro and it has got through because nobody noticed. The idea of an Irish public authority...
- Seanad: National Sports Campus Development Authority Bill 2006: Committee Stage. (28 Jun 2006)
Brendan Ryan: I thank the Minister for his unlimited patience and sense of humour, which I value. The Long Title of the Bill contains the Irish language version of the name of the authority. Last week another Minister told us that the advice from the Parliamentary Counsel was that this is unnecessary. I wish the Government would make up its mind on the issue.
- Seanad: National Sports Campus Development Authority Bill 2006: Committee Stage. (28 Jun 2006)
Brendan Ryan: It got very local here this morning. We were back to Dingle again.
- Seanad: National Sports Campus Development Authority Bill 2006: Committee Stage. (28 Jun 2006)
Brendan Ryan: I just wish the Government would make up its mind about it.
- Seanad: Order of Business. (29 Jun 2006)
Brendan Ryan: Yesterday morning I was accused of being ambivalent about killing. I read what I stated, which was "though I may find it morally wrong". I previously stood up in this House and condemned the murder of Rachel Corry. I also condemned the murders of 43,000 civilians in Iraq. I frequently stated that the deliberate or reckless targeting of civilians is a profound wrong. Whether it is deliberate...
- Seanad: Order of Business. (29 Jun 2006)
Brendan Ryan: I subscribe fully to his views on the uselessness and futility of violence. I also remember his extraordinary courage in refusing to visit the United States because it was a slave owning country. He refused to shake the hands of citizens of states of the union which practised slavery. He condemned the oppression of the Aboriginal people in Australia in 1840, before anyone else had noticed. I...
- Seanad: Order of Business. (29 Jun 2006)
Brendan Ryan: That is a matter in which the Oireachtas should have a supreme role and it should be based on the individual consciences of Members of the Oireachtas. That has been my view on all of these matters. There is no simple answer to these questions.
- Seanad: Order of Business. (29 Jun 2006)
Brendan Ryan: It is neither satisfactory to state it is murder, nor is it satisfactory to state the opposite. It is a difficult complex area because law and morality in issues such as this cannot be coterminous. It is avoiding the issue to pretend it is not difficult or that a simple solution exists. I would welcome a serious debate.
- Seanad: Order of Business. (29 Jun 2006)
Brendan Ryan: I deeply regret the absence from this House of that good and decent person, Des Hanafin, who throughout the heat of debate during all of the controversies of the 1980s never stated a single bad word about his opponents.
- Seanad: Order of Business. (29 Jun 2006)
Brendan Ryan: It is an example some people in this House could learn to live by.
- Seanad: Order of Business. (29 Jun 2006)
Brendan Ryan: Absolutely.
- Seanad: Order of Business. (29 Jun 2006)
Brendan Ryan: Hear, hear.
- Seanad: Order of Business. (29 Jun 2006)
Brendan Ryan: Hear, hear.
- Seanad: Order of Business. (29 Jun 2006)
Brendan Ryan: Hear, hear.