Results 1,021-1,040 of 6,030 for speaker:Brendan Ryan

Seanad: Regional Development: Motion. (11 Feb 2004)

Brendan Ryan: The current Minister for Finance identified it, and we sorted it out.

Seanad: Regional Development: Motion. (11 Feb 2004)

Brendan Ryan: Not for the first time the Labour Party is in the position, via its leader in this case, of having to inject a bit of reality into the nonsense Fianna Fáil goes on with before elections. Sometimes Fianna Fáil persuades people, as it did in the last general election, and then must face the truth afterwards. This time, I suspect, it is not persuading people. The obviously inappropriate...

Seanad: Regional Development: Motion. (11 Feb 2004)

Brendan Ryan: I really feel threatened by Senator Mooney and I thank the Leas-Chathaoirleach for his defence. I must explain this in small words so that the Members opposite understand it because they apparently do not want to listen.

Seanad: Regional Development: Motion. (11 Feb 2004)

Brendan Ryan: They do not want to listen, so I must say this in simple words. My party in Government decided to do something about real decentralisation in the Education Act which was passed in the 1992-97 period. It decided to decentralise power in education. Packing civil servants around the country is not decentralising power; it is decentralising civil servants. This Government believes, as did its...

Seanad: Regional Development: Motion. (11 Feb 2004)

Brendan Ryan: What will it cost? I would like to know.

Seanad: Regional Development: Motion. (11 Feb 2004)

Brendan Ryan: It will cost rubbish. Fianna Fáil knows about rubbish. There is a succession of agencies here. I am concerned that we have a grossly over-centralised system of Government, not a system of administration. We are doing nothing about that because the Department whose Minister is the author of this is the last bastion of Stalinism in Europe. It believes that the centre knows best for everybody,...

Seanad: Regional Development: Motion. (11 Feb 2004)

Brendan Ryan: That is a fact. All legislation which comes through this House states that where expenditure is involved in the Department, it is subject to the control of the Minister for Finance as if there was some superior wisdom in that Department. If we want to decentralise, the first thing we must do is decentralise power. If one decentralises power and authority, one then creates increased numbers of...

Seanad: Regional Development: Motion. (11 Feb 2004)

Brendan Ryan: That is not what this is about. The CSO has been an extraordinarily successful transfer because it is an integrated body, most of whose work is done within the body. What use will the Department of Communications, Marine and Natural Resources and the Minister be in County Cavan, travelling in droves up and down to Dublin each time an Oireachtas committee wants to meet them or the Minister...

Seanad: Regional Development: Motion. (11 Feb 2004)

Brendan Ryan: We knew in 1992 and in 2002 that the Government would con the people but the people have copped on.

Seanad: Regional Development: Motion. (11 Feb 2004)

Brendan Ryan: I know the Fianna Fáil Party well having grown up with it.

Seanad: Regional Development: Motion. (11 Feb 2004)

Brendan Ryan: My electoral record is a good deal better than Senator Mooney's. Having been elected to the House on more occasions than most Senators, I have a reasonably good record in that regard.

Seanad: Regional Development: Motion. (11 Feb 2004)

Brendan Ryan: Senator Mooney and I should not shout at each other about electoral success. Neither of us is in a position to speak on the matter and we should not pursue it any further. The Minister of State stated that people who do not want to move will be offered alternative public service jobs in Dublin. A significant number of the agencies in question, as distinct from the Civil Service, are...

Seanad: Order of Business. (12 Feb 2004)

Brendan Ryan: Yesterday, 44 people were killed in horrible circumstances in Baghdad, and subsequently two American soldiers were killed, equally horribly, and the world is outraged. Yesterday too, 14 people were killed by the Israeli defence forces in Gaza. It would be a very useful exercise for this House to talk about how the world views the Middle East because quite clearly a Palestinian life is now...

Seanad: Order of Business. (12 Feb 2004)

Brendan Ryan: It would be nice to see him.

Seanad: European Parliament Elections (Amendment) Bill 2003: Second Stage. (12 Feb 2004)

Brendan Ryan: I do not want to say too much. We had a thorough debate yesterday on the electronic voting aspect of this election. It is a pity the Government insists on saying that everybody who criticises what it is doing is an opponent of electronic voting. I am quite the opposite. I am also computer literate, and I am sure many Members are as computer literate as me. The one thing I know is that...

Seanad: European Parliament Elections (Amendment) Bill 2003: Second Stage. (12 Feb 2004)

Brendan Ryan: I will cease to be a Member of the House if I am elected to the European Parliament.

Seanad: European Parliament Elections (Amendment) Bill 2003: Second Stage. (12 Feb 2004)

Brendan Ryan: We miss County Clare, particularly its music and hurling, and we may even miss Senator Daly.

Seanad: European Parliament Elections (Amendment) Bill 2003: Second Stage. (12 Feb 2004)

Brendan Ryan: I would cease to be a Member of the House if elected to the European Parliament because membership of this House is irreconcilable with the job of MEP.

Seanad: European Parliament Elections (Amendment) Bill 2003: Second Stage. (12 Feb 2004)

Brendan Ryan: I am sure Senator Mansergh would not want to lose me as he would have nobody to provoke him. The Government parties will probably have two Deputies running in Leinster, two in Connacht-Ulster and one elsewhere. If they are successful, the Government will conveniently postpone five by-elections until after the next general election. The derogation in the legislation, included for the...

Seanad: European of the Year: Statements. (18 Feb 2004)

Brendan Ryan: It is difficult to add to what everybody else has said. The Labour Party group agrees with all the sentiments expressed. As perhaps one of the few Members of the Oireachtas with a foot in the camp that was most hostile to the European project over many years, I must say that none of those I know who approached the forum with scepticism left it with other than a feeling that they were treated...