Results 3,801-3,820 of 6,030 for speaker:Brendan Ryan

Seanad: Dublin Transport Authority Bill 2008: Report and Final Stages (15 May 2008)

Brendan Ryan: My intention was to safeguard the legislation against constitutional challenge. The advice I have provided has been rejected and I will withdraw the amendment.

Seanad: Dublin Transport Authority Bill 2008: Report and Final Stages (15 May 2008)

Brendan Ryan: I wish to be associated with the remarks of the two previous Senators and to thank the Minister, the Minister of State and their staff for their attentive response to several of the amendments.

Seanad: Dublin Transport Authority Bill 2008: Report and Final Stages (15 May 2008)

Brendan Ryan: Perhaps there will be an opportunity in the future to take a more general view.

Seanad: Broadcasting Bill 2008: Second Stage (22 May 2008)

Brendan Ryan: I wish to share my time with Senators McCarthy and Hannigan when we next resume the debate on the Bill.

Seanad: Broadcasting Bill 2008: Second Stage (22 May 2008)

Brendan Ryan: I also welcome the Minister to the House to introduce this Bill. The Labour Party broadly supports it, but we will table amendments to it on Committee Stage. The provision that the appointment of some members of the new broadcasting authority will be made by the Minister with advice from the relevant Oireachtas committee is to be welcomed. The Minister might expand on how this will work and...

Seanad: Commission to Inquire into Child Abuse Act 2000: Statements (28 May 2008)

Brendan Ryan: The Labour Party supports this motion. I accept that the Commission to Inquire into Child Abuse has requested an extension of eight months to the end of January 2009. My party views this request favourably. In many ways, this matter concerns the extension of the commission's period of inquiry. The substantive debate on the need for the inquiry into child abuse took place around the time of...

Seanad: Broadcasting Bill 2008: Second Stage (Resumed) (28 May 2008)

Brendan Ryan: I asked whether I could share time with Senators McCarthy and Hannigan, but may I replace them with Senator Alex White?

Seanad: Broadcasting Bill 2008: Second Stage (Resumed) (28 May 2008)

Brendan Ryan: I will use two or three minutes and Senator Alex White will use the remainder. I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Kelleher, to the House. When I spoke previously, I referred to RTE and other broadcasters providing periods of children's programming free from advertising. Advertising to children works and is considered lucrative within the business, with top advertising agencies...

Seanad: Dublin Transport Authority Bill 2008 [Seanad Bill amended by Dáil]: Report and Final Stages (9 Jul 2008)

Brendan Ryan: The Minister referred to amendment No. 54. Was that amendment part of the group he has just dealt with?

Seanad: Dublin Transport Authority Bill 2008 [Seanad Bill amended by Dáil]: Report and Final Stages (9 Jul 2008)

Brendan Ryan: When I spoke on this Bill previously, I welcomed it because the Labour Party has been calling for it for some time. The DTA is a vital agency that should have been established sooner. It has been established now and we are grateful for that. We advocated that the DTA be placed on a statutory basis, have real powers to oversee development of transport, infrastructure and services and be...

Seanad: Primary School Funding: Motion (8 Oct 2008)

Brendan Ryan: I welcome the Minister to the House and wish him well in his portfolio. Education is about every child being able to realise his or her potential. It is also about society reaching its potential. We invest in education from the national purse because we believe no child should be denied the opportunity provided by education. The amount we are willing to invest in education tells us a lot...

Seanad: Primary School Funding: Motion (8 Oct 2008)

Brendan Ryan: According to recent figures, Ireland spends less than 4.7% of gross domestic product on education, compared with an OECD average of 6.2%. These figures tell us what almost every parent in the country already knows, that our schools, especially our primary schools, cannot make ends meet without generous voluntary contributions, fund-raising and overdraft facilities. A recent survey by the...

Seanad: Primary School Funding: Motion (8 Oct 2008)

Brendan Ryan: It is unfair that children are disadvantaged in this manner in this day and age. The effect of this is that a school in a well-off area which can afford to raise up to €90,000 in a year can be almost the desirable digital school with the best of everything, while a school in a disadvantaged area, even allowing for extra funding to pay for extra reading tuition and subsidised school tours,...

Seanad: Primary School Funding: Motion (8 Oct 2008)

Brendan Ryan: It is the first crucial rung on the ladder that allows us to reach further and higher. As such, we should look closely at how well primary schools allow children to climb that ladder. It is difficult, therefore, to understand the reluctance of the Government to make the necessary leap in investment to free our schools from worries about money and allow them to be visionary about the future,...

Seanad: Order of Business (22 Oct 2008)

Brendan Ryan: Last week's budget introduced a 1% levy on all income. The Government rowed back on it to some extent yesterday by exempting those earning the minimum wage. I still have some concerns about it and am not sure whether it was raised in the House before — I do not believe it was raised today. I refer to the knock-on effect of the 1% levy. Many local authorities apply a bin tax waiver for...

Seanad: Special Educational Needs: Motion (29 Oct 2008)

Brendan Ryan: The Minister of State is welcome to the House. We were told this budget would contain tough measures but would protect the most vulnerable in society. What section of society is more vulnerable than people, especially children, with disabilities and their families who are struggling within an already inadequate system of education to get the education they deserve? The result of this...

Seanad: Agriculture Sector: Statements (18 Nov 2008)

Brendan Ryan: I welcome the Minister of State to the House. There are many difficulties facing Irish farming at present, including the free-fall in farm incomes, the collapse in milk prices, problems with food labelling, ever-changing deadlines imposed by the Department for applications for grant aid and the world trade talks. The list goes on. I will limit my comments to the issues arising from the...

Seanad: Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2008: Committee Stage (19 Nov 2008)

Brendan Ryan: Amendment No. 22 asks for an additional two weeks. This gives more time to respond to the proposed services plan, further strengthening the process. That is worth taking on board and I would ask the Minister of State to do so.

Seanad: Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2008: Committee Stage (19 Nov 2008)

Brendan Ryan: I agree with that sentiment. I thank the Minister of State for making that offer to us.

Seanad: Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2008: Committee Stage (19 Nov 2008)

Brendan Ryan: I move amendment No. 25: In page 16, subsection 4(a), line 26, after "social" to insert ", economic or cultural". This amendment strengthens the provision on avoiding undue social segregation. It is supported by Focus Ireland and other groups which feel this would enhance the legislation.