Results 3,701-3,720 of 6,030 for speaker:Brendan Ryan

Seanad: Water Services Bill 2003 [Seanad Bill amended by the Dáil]: Report and Final Stages (1 May 2007)

Brendan Ryan: It is long overdue.

Seanad: Water Services Bill 2003 [Seanad Bill amended by the Dáil]: Report and Final Stages (1 May 2007)

Brendan Ryan: I will probably test the indulgence of the Leas-Chathaoirleach but in light of the vigour of the Government's commitment to not privatising water supplies, I wish to urge the Minister to persuade those who represent it at bodies such as the IMF, the World Bank, etc., to encourage a move away from the crusade for privatising water services in developing countries. In my view, such a...

Seanad: Water Services Bill 2003 [Seanad Bill amended by the Dáil]: Report and Final Stages (1 May 2007)

Brendan Ryan: I wish to make a point on the fifth group amendments. I confess to not having read the amendments in detail but I have listened carefully to the debate. Is it intended to do anything about individual sewage treatment facilities such as septic tanks and other devices? The very least that should be done is that people would be required to get these tanks cleaned regularly. It is my...

Seanad: Water Services Bill 2003 [Seanad Bill amended by the Dáil]: Report and Final Stages (1 May 2007)

Brendan Ryan: Again, I hope these strategic plans include a requirement for continuous monitoring and for the publication of the results of such monitoring so people do not have to submit freedom of information requests to obtain it. I heard a true story about Dublin County Council a few years ago in regard to a request for emissions data supplied to it by a successful pharmaceutical plant in the Dublin...

Seanad: Water Services Bill 2003 [Seanad Bill amended by the Dáil]: Report and Final Stages (1 May 2007)

Brendan Ryan: I have a question and a statement. Is there a definition in the legislation of "domestic purposes" or are we referring simply to water that comes through a tap inside a house? There is an issue regarding waste of water which the Minister described. I fully agree with the principle that domestic water should not be charged for. As an owner of a holiday home, I strongly believe that holiday...

Seanad: Water Services Bill 2003 [Seanad Bill amended by the Dáil]: Report and Final Stages (1 May 2007)

Brendan Ryan: Water is a scarce resource and drinking water is especially scarce. The central object of public policy should be to minimise the use of drinking water and ensure it is used only where it is needed. When I was a small boy my mother used wash my hair in rainwater in south Kildare.

Seanad: Water Services Bill 2003 [Seanad Bill amended by the Dáil]: Report and Final Stages (1 May 2007)

Brendan Ryan: In south Kildare in particular, water was hard because of the amount of limestone in the soil. Rainwater was regarded as better for washing.

Seanad: Water Services Bill 2003 [Seanad Bill amended by the Dáil]: Report and Final Stages (1 May 2007)

Brendan Ryan: As one of those who, intermittently, raised the matter of what the Dáil was doing with this Bill between 2003 and 2007, I accept that the Dáil did some good work. The Bill is better than when it passed this House four years ago.

Seanad: Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2007: Second Stage. (1 May 2007)

Brendan Ryan: None of them thought they were in County Offaly either.

Seanad: Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2007: Second Stage. (1 May 2007)

Brendan Ryan: Cuirim fáilte roimh an Aire, cé go gcaithfidh mé a rá, cosúil leis an Seanadóir Ó Cochláin, nach bhfuil a fhios agam go díreach cad ina thaobh go bhfuil an Bille seo á chur tríd an Seanad gan aon Dáil a bheith ann chun rud ar bith a dhéanamh leis. Is breá liom focail ar nós "integration" agus "coherence" a fheiscint, mar tá siad ar bharr an liosta maidir le riarachán poiblí...

Seanad: Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2007: Second Stage. (1 May 2007)

Brendan Ryan: Shortly, the Minister might be here often.

Seanad: Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2007: Committee and Remaining Stages (1 May 2007)

Brendan Ryan: I move amendment No. 1: In page 4, subsection (1)(f), line 35, after "functions" to insert "including functions". The lawyer who advises me on these matters is of the opinion that the amendments tabled by my party colleagues are necessary to clarify the legislation. However, there is no issue involved and I will take the Minister's advice on them.

Seanad: Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2007: Committee and Remaining Stages (1 May 2007)

Brendan Ryan: No, but amendments Nos. 1 to 4, inclusive, are being taken together and I would like to hear the Minister's response to the other amendments before we decide on them.

Seanad: Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2007: Committee and Remaining Stages (1 May 2007)

Brendan Ryan: No more than myself.

Seanad: Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2007: Committee and Remaining Stages (1 May 2007)

Brendan Ryan: Gabhaim buíochas leis an Aire. Tá súil agam go n-éireoidh go maith le gach éinne atá páirteach sa toghchán. Tá sprioc difriúil agamsa féin, b'fhéidir, agus atá ag an Aire, ach táimid go léir sa chóras chéanna. Má bhíonn an seans aige, ba chóir dó féachaint ar an milleán. Más rud é go mbeidh duine éigin ina dhiaidh, b'fhéidir, chaithfidh sé nó sí féachaint...

Seanad: Committee on Members' Interests: Motion (1 May 2007)

Brendan Ryan: I wish the record of the House to show the fact that my colleague, Senator Tuffy, persistently pressed me to give the Labour Party Private Members' time to this issue. She felt very strongly about it and whatever her future career — I hope she is elected to the Dáil — she will have made a significant mark on the way Seanad Éireann does its business. I want to put Senator Tuffy's name...

Seanad: Order of Business (3 Jul 2007)

Brendan Ryan: Aontaím le gach rud a dúradh faoin Chathaoirleach. Bhí sé uasal agus féaráilte i gcónaí, agus chuir sé béim ar dhínit an Tí ar shlí a bhí ciúin ach a d'oibir go maith. I pay tribute to the Cathaoirleach, who was extraordinarily fair and to whom I have said more than once that he was more than extraordinarily patient on occasions, definitely with me. I wish him well in the...

Seanad: Order of Business (3 Jul 2007)

Brendan Ryan: We were consoled in bad times that we at least had that conduit. I thank the Cathaoirleach for his service over the past five years. It is almost 30 years exactly since I contested an election for the Seanad. As Members will know there is no cure for politics, so I will contest the next election. What is more profoundly worrying than the revelation of the scale of the importation of drugs...

Seanad: Order of Business (3 Jul 2007)

Brendan Ryan: ——because the evidence is arguable. The evidence from cocaine use is that it is inherently destructive and profoundly addictive. The idea that sane, intelligent and, by and large, educated young people would put their futures at risk in this way raises all sorts of profound questions about values and what point they see in life. Senator O'Toole's suggestions make perfect sense....

Seanad: Order of Business (3 Jul 2007)

Brendan Ryan: So is alcohol.