Results 3,101-3,120 of 6,030 for speaker:Brendan Ryan

Seanad: Order of Business (6 Dec 2006)

Brendan Ryan: That is a distortion of what was said.

Seanad: Order of Business (6 Dec 2006)

Brendan Ryan: There is no sign of that.

Seanad: Order of Business (6 Dec 2006)

Brendan Ryan: Yes.

Seanad: Order of Business (6 Dec 2006)

Brendan Ryan: Okay, please do.

Seanad: Budget Statement 2006: Motion (6 Dec 2006)

Brendan Ryan: The Senator should remind us of that.

Seanad: Budget Statement 2006: Motion (6 Dec 2006)

Brendan Ryan: Diesel is a filthy fuel.

Seanad: Budget Statement 2006: Motion (6 Dec 2006)

Brendan Ryan: Diesel may be better than petrol on CO2 emissions but it is a filthy fuel.

Seanad: Budget Statement 2006: Motion (6 Dec 2006)

Brendan Ryan: We should not get involved in a nonsensical debate about whether this is an election budget. Every budget prior to an election, from all parties, has been an election budget, although none has been as generous as this one. If my party was in Government and in the same position as the current Administration, it would, without a shadow of doubt, introduce an election budget. Whether it would...

Seanad: Budget Statement 2006: Motion (6 Dec 2006)

Brendan Ryan: I could nearly recite them. We are into voodoo. This notion that the reduction of capital gains tax increased revenues is actually voodoo because it went up as often as it went down in the past ten years, since Charlie McCreevy introduced something which was not mentioned in any election manifesto before it was introduced. It was a classic Charlie McCreevy stroke which the Progressive...

Seanad: Budget Statement 2006: Motion (6 Dec 2006)

Brendan Ryan: ——and it has achieved nothing. Everything that is claimed for it——

Seanad: Budget Statement 2006: Motion (6 Dec 2006)

Brendan Ryan: I know the revenues from capital gains tax. What would the Minister of State expect in a country where capital values have appreciated so rapidly? Would he expect less?

Seanad: Budget Statement 2006: Motion (6 Dec 2006)

Brendan Ryan: I did not say they were. I am well aware of the limitations.

Seanad: Budget Statement 2006: Motion (6 Dec 2006)

Brendan Ryan: I apologise. I was trying to speak through the Chair. The most disturbing aspect of this budget is the failure to respond to the strategic issues that have been identified. Both Senator Ross and I have referred to the views of the American Chamber of Commerce Ireland about what is needed in the national development plan. I have recommended to the Leader and others that this document should...

Seanad: Budget Statement 2006: Motion (6 Dec 2006)

Brendan Ryan: I regret that nothing in the budget is focused on the scale of the infrastructure crisis in both transport and broadband and access to air traffic that is confronting this country, as identified by the American Chamber of Commerce Ireland. Ending where I began, it is about the next election and it is not about strategy. To the degree that it neglects fundamental strategic issues, it is an...

Seanad: Order of Business (7 Dec 2006)

Brendan Ryan: Nobody wants to talk about traffic yet again but it is an issue. I use the wonderfully useful Fermoy bypass so often that I purchased the capacity to pass through by electronic means without any delay. I now know that if I was to take my car around the country to the various toll systems, I would need three other devices stuck on my windscreen. I can imagine a truck driver travelling the...

Seanad: Order of Business (7 Dec 2006)

Brendan Ryan: Many, including myself, fulminate about law and order. Yesterday in Cork, the family of a murdered girl showed extraordinary generosity in their response to the family of the man who murdered her. We all could reflect on this and choose our words a little more carefully when discussing some of these horrendous crimes. If the family of a victim can be as forgiving as that, perhaps all of us...

Seanad: Health (Nursing Homes) (Amendment) Bill 2006: Second Stage (7 Dec 2006)

Brendan Ryan: Much of what has been said on this side of the House represents my views, although I would perhaps take a more radical view. I am intrigued about the way we put certain aspects of our society into boxes. While I may use the term "society", I should say "the present regime" because after ten years of the present Government, one must accept, regrettably, that perhaps it has an insight into...

Seanad: Health (Nursing Homes) (Amendment) Bill 2006: Second Stage (7 Dec 2006)

Brendan Ryan: The same is true of free second level education. When Donogh O'Malley introduced free second level education, he did not go through a rigmarole of means tests and cross-checking. He decided it would be free. While it is not entirely free, that is a separate issue. Ms Niamh Breathnach introduced the abolition of fees——

Seanad: Health (Nursing Homes) (Amendment) Bill 2006: Second Stage (7 Dec 2006)

Brendan Ryan: ——a decision which was entirely correct but which has simply been diverted by the universities, which have managed to cream off the snobs of the fee-paying schools. Members should consider the composition of those attending the institutes of technology and they will see the difference. They are not the children of the very poor but of middle income earners. Members should ask those in...

Seanad: Health (Nursing Homes) (Amendment) Bill 2006: Second Stage (7 Dec 2006)

Brendan Ryan: I know there is the possibility of enhanced subvention but it is entirely at the discretion of the HSE. The Minister of State said in his contribution that the average amount is above the standard but that applies to a person who is deemed to be completely dependent. The subvention, at approximately twice what we spend per week on a primary school child, is a miserable amount to spend on 5%...