Results 3,141-3,160 of 6,030 for speaker:Brendan Ryan

Seanad: Hepatitis C Compensation Tribunal (Amendment) Bill 2006: Committee and Remaining Stages. (6 Jul 2006)

Brendan Ryan: Okay.

Seanad: Hepatitis C Compensation Tribunal (Amendment) Bill 2006: Committee and Remaining Stages. (6 Jul 2006)

Brendan Ryan: That was eight years ago.

Seanad: Hepatitis C Compensation Tribunal (Amendment) Bill 2006: Committee and Remaining Stages. (6 Jul 2006)

Brendan Ryan: The Tánaiste asked me whether——

Seanad: Hepatitis C Compensation Tribunal (Amendment) Bill 2006: Committee and Remaining Stages. (6 Jul 2006)

Brendan Ryan: The answer is that the scientific study shows that the shortest period of time in which those tests were found not to be positive was three years. One presumes that the blood that will be used for transfusions will be tested. I sincerely hope the blood transfusion service tests the blood products soon after it receives them and does not leave them for three years in storage. According to the...

Seanad: Hepatitis C Compensation Tribunal (Amendment) Bill 2006: Committee and Remaining Stages. (6 Jul 2006)

Brendan Ryan: The blood transfusion service is still finding a few people who are infected every year. On the diagnosis, separate from the tests, it concerns rhesus negative women who had a baby whose father was rhesus positive. In time, they can also have a raised ALT level, joint pain and so forth. This is not a large amorphous group. It is a group who are within a clearly defined at-risk category who...

Seanad: Order of Business (Resumed). (6 Jul 2006)

Brendan Ryan: They are putting up the tolls.

Seanad: Business of Seanad. (6 Jul 2006)

Brendan Ryan: On a point of order, there are only 15 minutes remaining to deal with the Institutes of Technology Bill through no fault of any of the Members who intend to speak on it. This is the position because we started the Order of Business so late. Can I suggest that we could survive without a sos?

Seanad: Business of Seanad. (6 Jul 2006)

Brendan Ryan: Yes.

Seanad: Business of Seanad. (6 Jul 2006)

Brendan Ryan: I begin by way of a confession. Next August it will be 25 years since I was elected to this House and this is the first time I have been here on the last day before the summer recess. That may be a comment on either my indolence or my electoral resilience but I managed to get out of here early and be re-elected over that period. I thank the Cathaoirleach. He is a difficult man with whom to...

Seanad: Business of Seanad. (6 Jul 2006)

Brendan Ryan: The House has completed a considerable amount of business and considered a substantial number of issues without any serious rows. There has rarely been a serious disagreement about time allocations or anything like that. I was not present in the House earlier this week for the debate on the Criminal Justice Bill 2004, which was a classic example of the allocation of sufficient time. As...

Seanad: Business of Seanad. (6 Jul 2006)

Brendan Ryan: No. I disagree with the Leader in that regard. He does not earn much more that we do — he gets paid much more than we do.

Seanad: Business of Seanad. (6 Jul 2006)

Brendan Ryan: There is a fundamental difference. I would like to conclude by thanking my colleagues in the Labour Party and the various members of the party's staff. I am the leader of a group in this House who lives furthest from Dublin. Perhaps I am not here as often as most of the other group leaders. I have found all my colleagues most accommodating about that.

Seanad: Business of Seanad. (6 Jul 2006)

Brendan Ryan: The Labour Party group is quite small. My colleagues in the group, more so than me, participate in debates on virtually every Bill that comes before the House. They propose constructive amendments to every Bill, which is a considerable workload for a group of five people. I pay tribute to my colleagues in the Labour Party, in particular, for their level of positive contribution to the work of...

Seanad: Business of Seanad. (6 Jul 2006)

Brendan Ryan: It will be. I have been here for a long time anyway. This summer, Senator Ross and I will celebrate the 25th anniversary of our election to this House.

Seanad: Business of Seanad. (6 Jul 2006)

Brendan Ryan: I was not here for a little bit of the last 25 years. We were temporarily separated.

Seanad: Order of Business. (6 Jul 2006)

Brendan Ryan: We need to clarify and delineate the roles and procedures of the Houses of the Oireachtas Commission and the CPP. Constitutionally, these Houses are run through these committees, which are representative of all groups and parties. The commission has a separate role. It is important it does not encroach into what should remain the sovereign right of the Houses in determining how they do their...

Seanad: Order of Business. (6 Jul 2006)

Brendan Ryan: He was surprised at the salary, far higher than that in the UK, for a 33 hour week. He was also surprised at the number of medical insurance submission forms which he had to sign. He stated, "I was amazed to discover I was expected to submit a bill for my services and that I would be paid for looking after these patients whom I felt I was already paid to look after". Everybody knows I am sick...

Seanad: Death of Former Member: Expressions of Sympathy. (6 Jul 2006)

Brendan Ryan: I served in the House with former Senator Belton and was glad to know him. He was, like many of us, permanently on the backbenches but contributed significantly nonetheless. He would fit into anybody's definition of the traditional Fine Gael spectrum, which meant he was a man of strong views that would not necessarily have coincided with my own. However, he was a man who held those views...

Seanad: Hepatitis C Compensation Tribunal (Amendment) Bill 2006: Second Stage. (5 Jul 2006)

Brendan Ryan: Although I do not want to draw Senator Browne into one of my rows with anybody, the first issue that intrigues me is the incapacity of the Department of Health and Children to produce legislation that does not cause problems. Senator Browne and I struggled with a particular piece of legislation here less than six months ago. In its original form it was incomprehensible and when the amendments...

Seanad: Hepatitis C Compensation Tribunal (Amendment) Bill 2006: Second Stage. (5 Jul 2006)

Brendan Ryan: I am coming to the peculiar way the Department of Health and Children deals with legislation of which this Act was symptomatic. The Act had amendments to the Health Act, including eligibility for school medical examinations, tacked onto the end. The Title did not reflect its contents. Then we had the first attempt at compensating people for the nursing home debacle, which was rejected as...