Results 841-860 of 6,030 for speaker:Brendan Ryan

Seanad: Houses of the Oireachtas Commission Bill 2002: Committee Stage. (1 Jul 2003)

Brendan Ryan: I hate to shake my grey hairs but it is 22 years since I was elected to this House. Many people, including public servants outside and some inside the Houses, forget that this is an autonomous House. If someone wants to change the rules relating to security here, it cannot be done without the agreement of this House through its Committee on Procedures and Privileges. A picture cannot be put...

Seanad: Order of Business. (2 Jul 2003)

Brendan Ryan: When I escaped into true democracy and joined the Labour Party, I realised the checks and balances of democracy. The great thing about being an Independent was that there were no checks and balances.

Seanad: Order of Business. (2 Jul 2003)

Brendan Ryan: First, I would like to ask the Leader about the first two matters. While I have no great objection to them, I do not know enough about them, which is the point I wish to make. Motions are introduced, referred to a committee and brought back having been discussed by it. However, there is no mechanism of which I am aware whereby I or any other Member of this House can find out what the...

Seanad: Order of Business. (2 Jul 2003)

Brendan Ryan: I love being interrupted.

Seanad: Order of Business. (2 Jul 2003)

Brendan Ryan: I will do my best not to react.

Seanad: Order of Business. (2 Jul 2003)

Brendan Ryan: I will do my best not to react. When did the Taoiseach know about it? If he knew as far back as it now appears, why did he not tell anybody? Why did he not tell his colleagues in Government, the Progressive Democrats and, more particularly, why did he not tell the Dáil? These are serious questions about a most important issue and there is a classical fudge from the Taoiseach about what...

Seanad: Forfás Consumer Pricing Report 2003: Statements. (2 Jul 2003)

Brendan Ryan: Hear, hear.

Seanad: Forfás Consumer Pricing Report 2003: Statements. (2 Jul 2003)

Brendan Ryan: I am suffering from the fact that I have organised myself to say too much. The Chair will forgive me. There are two ways of approaching this debate and, as usual, I will try to take both and probably get confused in the process. One way is to look at useful examples that are hard to understand. I accept everything Senator Mansergh said about insurance companies. It is worth noting that the...

Seanad: Common Agricultural Policy: Statements. (2 Jul 2003)

Brendan Ryan: Contrary to what people perhaps believe, there is a significant number of farmers in the Dáil constituency which I unsuccessfully contested in June and they were not rallying to my support. Apart from that, as I think the Minister knows, I have long had an interest in the CAP and in the dilemma of developing a way of sustaining life in agriculture and related activities and sustaining life...

Seanad: Common Agricultural Policy: Statements. (2 Jul 2003)

Brendan Ryan: In that case, I will take that gentle hint. I am not able to evaluate the Minister's achievements or otherwise precisely but those who pretend – as I heard in some speeches from this side of the House – that there is some way to sustain the status quo indefinitely are fooling themselves. There is no overall electoral advantage in pretending to farmers or urban Ireland that the old way of...

Seanad: Houses of the Oireachtas Commission Bill 2002: Report and Final Stages. (2 Jul 2003)

Brendan Ryan: I second the amendment. Senator Higgins has said almost everything that needs to be said but I would like to make one point. People often forget that this House is not entirely subordinate to the Dáil. It has one power where it is equal to the other House, namely, the power to reject a statutory instrument, and there is no procedure for the Dáil to overrule it. The Seanad is not just a...

Seanad: Houses of the Oireachtas Commission Bill 2002: Report and Final Stages. (2 Jul 2003)

Brendan Ryan: I second this amendment. The Clerk of the Seanad is also the returning officer for the elections to the panels of the House. According to its functions, the commission shall provide for the running of the Houses of the Oireachtas. As of now, under this provision, when there is an election to the Seanad, the Clerk of the Seanad will have to apply to the commission to be allowed to use space in...

Seanad: Nuclear Safety: Motion. (2 Jul 2003)

Brendan Ryan: Sellafield is one of the issues on which Government bashing, which we all enjoy, would achieve little. I have learned during my years in politics that there is little point in it, even though I, like most capable Ministers, enjoy it. As Members will be aware from my frequent allusions to my profession, I am a chemical engineer. While I am not a nuclear engineer, I am certain there is no such...

Seanad: Order of Business. (3 Jul 2003)

Brendan Ryan: A Chathaoirligh, the Senator will have to withdraw that remark.

Seanad: Order of Business. (3 Jul 2003)

Brendan Ryan: When one listens to the reaction opposite one knows Senator Hayes has made a valid point.

Seanad: Order of Business. (3 Jul 2003)

Brendan Ryan: The howls from those who do not believe in freedom of information and the realisation— (Interruptions).

Seanad: Order of Business. (3 Jul 2003)

Brendan Ryan: Fianna Fáil has always been the great pragmatist and it had a view—

Seanad: Order of Business. (3 Jul 2003)

Brendan Ryan: On the Order of Business, I am simply responding to some of what was said opposite.

Seanad: Order of Business. (3 Jul 2003)

Brendan Ryan: I really wish Fianna Fáil would realise that after 20 years it will not shout me down.

Seanad: Order of Business. (3 Jul 2003)

Brendan Ryan: If Members opposite will refrain from interrupting me I will do my best to be as brief as possible. I fully support what Senator Hayes has said. There is no logic of any kind which can justify the scale of fees for appeals to the Information Commissioner. The only logic is that it is a deterrent, as the commissioner said. What we have is a deliberate attempt to deter people from pursuing...