Results 1,101-1,120 of 6,030 for speaker:Brendan Ryan

Seanad: Appointments to Semi-State Bodies: Motion. (10 Mar 2004)

Brendan Ryan: While I support the motion, there is a certain irony about Senator Ross getting excited about semi-State bodies. If he had his way there would be no such bodies, as he would have them all privatised in the first place. I presume there must be a printing error on the Order Paper as the names of only four of the five Independent Members appear under the motion.

Seanad: Appointments to Semi-State Bodies: Motion. (10 Mar 2004)

Brendan Ryan: The name of the champion of all that is good and best in Irish politics in the backbenches behind me is missing from a motion about this matter. I have to assume it is a printing error if all of the Members of the Independent group did not support this clearly reasonable motion.

Seanad: Appointments to Semi-State Bodies: Motion. (10 Mar 2004)

Brendan Ryan: It has nothing to do with that.

Seanad: Appointments to Semi-State Bodies: Motion. (10 Mar 2004)

Brendan Ryan: I have no reason to be wary of any of the people in my constituency. However, it is a bit much that a significant part of one of the speeches proposing this motion again comes to the defence of the college of the holy and undivided, which has a capacity for preciousness which exceeds anything. I remind those from that college that if it had not been for Éamon de Valera, it would have...

Seanad: Appointments to Semi-State Bodies: Motion. (10 Mar 2004)

Brendan Ryan: They would want to be extremely wary of striking poses about the behaviour of others.

Seanad: Appointments to Semi-State Bodies: Motion. (10 Mar 2004)

Brendan Ryan: All of my chips are on the left shoulder.

Seanad: Appointments to Semi-State Bodies: Motion. (10 Mar 2004)

Brendan Ryan: It is a complete red herring to talk about this in terms of party affiliation.

Seanad: Appointments to Semi-State Bodies: Motion. (10 Mar 2004)

Brendan Ryan: The real issue is the appointment of incompetent and poorly qualified people to many boards. While many good people serve on boards, there is no way to evaluate people's capacity to contribute to any board. The fact that the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform has finally reformed that most appalling of systems, the appointments to prison visiting committees, is not worthy of...

Seanad: Appointments to Semi-State Bodies: Motion. (10 Mar 2004)

Brendan Ryan: The most successful period in the county's history was when Senator Leyden's party was out of Government more than it was in it, in the 20-year period from 1981 to 2001.

Seanad: Appointments to Semi-State Bodies: Motion. (10 Mar 2004)

Brendan Ryan: About 40 years ago that party forgot why it had been established. It spent the next ten years reminiscing about why it had been founded and 30 years ago it decided it had only one objective, which was to get into power. It determined that the best way to get into and stay in power was to provide patronage. It decided not to establish an agency to look after emigrants, as there is no point in...

Seanad: Order of Business. (11 Mar 2004)

Brendan Ryan: The Leader will be accused either way.

Seanad: Order of Business. (11 Mar 2004)

Brendan Ryan: The Labour Party fully supports the views of our colleagues on the appalling atrocity in Spain. While I do not want to push the Cathaoirleach's indulgence, we should invite a party, with Members in the Oireachtas, to clarify whether it still invites honorary guests from the political wing of ETA to its Ard-Fheiseanna.

Seanad: Order of Business. (11 Mar 2004)

Brendan Ryan: Recently I had the misfortune to hear an Oireachtas Member attempting to justify on the radio the assassination of a 79 year old man, who happened to be part of the British aristocracy, while on holidays in Sligo some years ago. While I am normally fairly well able to handle such comments, it was among the most repulsive things I have heard from an Oireachtas Member. On this matter I am in...

Seanad: Order of Business. (11 Mar 2004)

Brendan Ryan: The Government proposes to hold a referendum on citizenship. On 17 February the Taoiseach told my party leader that the Government had no proposal to hold a referendum to change the Constitution in this regard. On 20 April 1998 he informed my then party leader that no legislation would be proposed by the Government to the Oireachtas, which imposes restrictions on the entitlement to Irish...

Seanad: Order of Business. (11 Mar 2004)

Brendan Ryan: No.

Seanad: Order of Business. (23 Mar 2004)

Brendan Ryan: The idea that the second richest country in the world would descend into controversy over the fact that a Government exists which thinks it is all right to take money away from widows is a commentary on the quality of this country and the values that ten years of this Government have given it. This is so unthinkable——

Seanad: Order of Business. (23 Mar 2004)

Brendan Ryan: We need a debate about the fundamental values of this country.

Seanad: Order of Business. (23 Mar 2004)

Brendan Ryan: This is not about social welfare. The social welfare changes are a symptom of the collapse of the values of solidarity that the Fianna Fáil in which I grew up, stood for and spent most of my childhood and early adult life struggling to create has now torn apart by insulting the widows by telling them they are an anomaly. The widows of Ireland are victims of cruel injustice in their lives,...

Seanad: Order of Business. (23 Mar 2004)

Brendan Ryan: The issue is not just that element, but what has happened to what used to be fundamental values here. We can subsidise stallions while we impoverish widows. It is common——

Seanad: Order of Business. (23 Mar 2004)

Brendan Ryan: Social welfare is not the issue here, but the values for which we stand.