Results 1,741-1,760 of 6,030 for speaker:Brendan Ryan

Seanad: Finance Bill 2005 [Certified Money Bill]: Committee and Remaining Stages. (23 Mar 2005)

Brendan Ryan: The Mullingar accord is alive and well. The more Fianna Fáil and the Progressive Democrats speak about it, the more I realise how alive and well it is. If I was a member of the Progressive Democrats, I would be worried about where Fianna Fáil is planning to have its next——

Seanad: Finance Bill 2005 [Certified Money Bill]: Committee and Remaining Stages. (23 Mar 2005)

Brendan Ryan: Given that the Chair accepts there was provocation involved, I will say no more on the matter. The retention of records applies to any taxpayer. I wonder how many of the taxpayers know they are guilty of an offence, and liable to a penalty of €1,520, if they do not keep their income tax records for six years?

Seanad: Finance Bill 2005 [Certified Money Bill]: Committee and Remaining Stages. (23 Mar 2005)

Brendan Ryan: I am speaking to the section but I should probably wait until the recommendation has been disposed of.

Seanad: Finance Bill 2005 [Certified Money Bill]: Committee and Remaining Stages. (23 Mar 2005)

Brendan Ryan: No. The Minister of State answered my question at the end of his reply.

Seanad: Finance Bill 2005 [Certified Money Bill]: Committee and Remaining Stages. (23 Mar 2005)

Brendan Ryan: I cannot help contrasting the detailed prescription of how these benefiting properties must be publicised with the mealy-mouthed wording I referred to earlier in section 23 which states, "the Revenue Commissioners shall make known in such manner as they think fit" any information of benefit to the taxpayer. Quite rightly properties that benefit from this tax exemption must have a prescribed...

Seanad: Finance Bill 2005 [Certified Money Bill]: Committee and Remaining Stages. (23 Mar 2005)

Brendan Ryan: I was enjoying the ideological conflict. Taxation is not equivalent to stealing money from people. Tax is what one pays for the services provided by society. I do not refer to anything Senator John Phelan said but I am entirely sick of those, particularly affluent people, who claim they have never received anything from the State. This usually means they did not receive third level grants.

Seanad: Finance Bill 2005 [Certified Money Bill]: Committee and Remaining Stages. (23 Mar 2005)

Brendan Ryan: These people should consider the amount of child benefit they receive, in some cases until their children are 21 years old. Without this benefit, they would require a much greater salary in order to have the same amount in their pockets. They should also consider the roads they use and the generous mortgage interest relief on their homes. All these benefits must be added up. People like me...

Seanad: Finance Bill 2005 [Certified Money Bill]: Committee and Remaining Stages. (23 Mar 2005)

Brendan Ryan: This seemed to confirm he was quite satisfied with the deal that had been negotiated. If the IFA was satisfied with the level of compensation its members would receive, it seems probable that level was well above what farmers had expected or hoped to receive either through compensation or the sale of agricultural land. I cannot accept the recommendation in its present form as it is far too...

Seanad: Finance Bill 2005 [Certified Money Bill]: Committee and Remaining Stages. (23 Mar 2005)

Brendan Ryan: All these sections concern tax on tobacco products. Has the Government decided not to raise tax on tobacco products? Has it decided that the saturation point has been reached or is it a once-off delay? Most of us feel that further increases in tax are a necessary part of the package of measures to discourage smoking.

Seanad: Finance Bill 2005 [Certified Money Bill]: Committee and Remaining Stages. (23 Mar 2005)

Brendan Ryan: Section 97 deals with hybrid vehicles. I am surprised this is still a temporary provision, rather than a permanent one. The Government can change that in the future if it wishes. I would have thought the environmental benefits of hybrid vehicles were so obvious that we could make this provision a permanent one. Automobile manufacturers would not have a degree of security for future investment...

Seanad: Finance Bill 2005 [Certified Money Bill]: Committee and Remaining Stages. (23 Mar 2005)

Brendan Ryan: I am speaking as an engineer. Businesses need a climate of certainty within which to plan. If governments in other countries and the EU were to establish a vehicle registration tax cut of 20% but refused to extend the measure beyond one year, that would not encourage investment decisions about car manufacturing that encouraged innovation. It would be better to remove the termination date from...

Seanad: Finance Bill 2005 [Certified Money Bill]: Committee and Remaining Stages. (23 Mar 2005)

Brendan Ryan: The Minister of State is not dealing with my question.

Seanad: West Link Toll Bridge: Motion. (23 Mar 2005)

Brendan Ryan: That is a fine choice of words.

Seanad: West Link Toll Bridge: Motion. (23 Mar 2005)

Brendan Ryan: They are definitely sub-optimal, how far "sub" is the question.

Seanad: West Link Toll Bridge: Motion. (23 Mar 2005)

Brendan Ryan: Will the NTR be involved?

Seanad: West Link Toll Bridge: Motion. (23 Mar 2005)

Brendan Ryan: I live almost as far away as is possible from the M50 and my experiences of that particular toll bridge are those I would associate with the worst kind of monopoly. The last time I was there, the signage was indifferent to the customer. A little sign read "Toll Ahead" and by the time one got close enough to know what lane one should be in, one was already in a lane. By the time one found out...

Seanad: West Link Toll Bridge: Motion. (23 Mar 2005)

Brendan Ryan: It is a long time since my party was in power.

Seanad: West Link Toll Bridge: Motion. (23 Mar 2005)

Brendan Ryan: The dragging of a long-retired former colleague of mine into this is an extraordinarily unsubtle attempt to spread the blame.

Seanad: West Link Toll Bridge: Motion. (23 Mar 2005)

Brendan Ryan: The reality is that NTR, owned by people who were good friends of Fianna Fáil, was given a sweetheart deal. Let us remember what happened. NTR took fright with the East Link and so were guaranteed against loss. After experimenting and discovering that one could make a great deal of money out of bridges, NTR said it wanted to build the West Link, and in that case a guarantee against loss was...

Seanad: West Link Toll Bridge: Motion. (23 Mar 2005)

Brendan Ryan: I have no problems with tolling in principle provided performance criteria are established and enforced.