Results 3,781-3,800 of 6,030 for speaker:Brendan Ryan

Seanad: Competition (Amendment) Bill 2005: Second Stage. (13 Dec 2005)

Brendan Ryan: I have said this publicly before. This is a major issue and the Minister was very effective, both in terms of public health and also in taking on an extraordinarily virulent lobby. This is why I am so wary of competition. As far as I am aware, the Competition Authority has done two things; it has attempted to bring to an end the agreement between the Voluntary Health Insurance and BUPA and...

Seanad: Order of Business. (13 Dec 2005)

Brendan Ryan: I would like to speak about the events of last Friday. It is worth repeating that we do not often encounter times when our choices are clearly defined for us. I do not think it is sufficient for Senators to stand up and say we think something is a great idea. The Government of this country has a job to do. Almost 75 years ago, the late Mr. Dan Morrissey asked the then Minister for Industry...

Seanad: Order of Business. (13 Dec 2005)

Brendan Ryan: I am about to quote what Mr. Justice Flood said this morning on the radio.

Seanad: Order of Business. (13 Dec 2005)

Brendan Ryan: That people are entitled to a proper court——

Seanad: Order of Business. (13 Dec 2005)

Brendan Ryan: Sorry, a Chathaoirligh, Mr. Justice Flood is the chairman of the Centre for Public Inquiry whose director has been traduced by the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform. Let me explain clearly. Nobody in this country has to explain themselves because somebody cast imputations on them. Regardless of whether they should or should not, nobody has to do so and nobody has the right. I...

Seanad: Order of Business. (13 Dec 2005)

Brendan Ryan: Why are they okay?

Seanad: Order of Business. (13 Dec 2005)

Brendan Ryan: We do not know whether they travelled on false passports. We do not know anything about them because the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform, so worried as he is about subversion is cosy with them and has picked on one individual, at most a subordinate individual in that organisation.

Seanad: Order of Business. (13 Dec 2005)

Brendan Ryan: What Mr. Justice Flood said was that statements made in privileged circumstances where they cannot be tested are unworthy and that they are unworthy of this State and the Government. We have a Constitution. Let us be clear, the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform, Deputy McDowell, is as much bound by the Constitution as am I. He has no special rights.

Seanad: Order of Business. (13 Dec 2005)

Brendan Ryan: That is what he said.

Seanad: Order of Business. (13 Dec 2005)

Brendan Ryan: The Senator is doing that far too often.

Seanad: Statute Law Revision (Pre-1922) Bill 2004 [Seanad Bill amended by the Dáil]: Report and Final Stages. (8 Dec 2005)

Brendan Ryan: Deputy Cassidy would be very upset at that.

Seanad: Statute Law Revision (Pre-1922) Bill 2004 [Seanad Bill amended by the Dáil]: Report and Final Stages. (8 Dec 2005)

Brendan Ryan: The rendition of coffee.

Seanad: Statute Law Revision (Pre-1922) Bill 2004 [Seanad Bill amended by the Dáil]: Report and Final Stages. (8 Dec 2005)

Brendan Ryan: This is almost a trivial exercise except an enormous amount of work has gone into it.

Seanad: Statute Law Revision (Pre-1922) Bill 2004 [Seanad Bill amended by the Dáil]: Report and Final Stages. (8 Dec 2005)

Brendan Ryan: I commend the Minister of State, his Department and staff. I am not supposed to mention them but they deserve great credit for this work. I thank the Minister of State for this list of laws, and I will hold on to the document.

Seanad: Statute Law Revision (Pre-1922) Bill 2004 [Seanad Bill amended by the Dáil]: Report and Final Stages. (8 Dec 2005)

Brendan Ryan: I will mention some of the laws. I have a question about the Sacrament Act 1547, which dealt with abuses against the Blessed Sacrament. The law was published after the Reformation, so why did an Act of Parliament deal with terminology such as "the Blessed Sacrament" in what was now Protestant England?

Seanad: Statute Law Revision (Pre-1922) Bill 2004 [Seanad Bill amended by the Dáil]: Report and Final Stages. (8 Dec 2005)

Brendan Ryan: I am not sure. There were many wobbles and I am not sure where the church had wobbled to at that stage. The matter is a curiosity. I am fascinated by the history of the Earl of Kildare, as I speak as a native of County Kildare. There are a succession of related revisions, including the Restitution of the Earl of Kildare 1495, which was followed by the Attainder of the Earl of Kildare 1534....

Seanad: Statute Law Revision (Pre-1922) Bill 2004 [Seanad Bill amended by the Dáil]: Report and Final Stages. (8 Dec 2005)

Brendan Ryan: Garret Mór was restored as ruler of Ireland in 1487, and just over 40 years later his son was hanged. It is pity that some of the laws cannot be kept on the Statute Book without fear of them having an effect.

Seanad: Statute Law Revision (Pre-1922) Bill 2004 [Seanad Bill amended by the Dáil]: Report and Final Stages. (8 Dec 2005)

Brendan Ryan: Apart from the obligation of tidying up, what legal force did any of these laws have? Is there a secret fear in the depths of some Department that somebody will use them? There was allegedly a student in Trinity College, Dublin, who demanded a glass of sherry, wine or ale with his examinations because of a statute in the college. He was told he was not wearing his sword so he would have to...

Seanad: Statute Law Revision (Pre-1922) Bill 2004 [Seanad Bill amended by the Dáil]: Report and Final Stages. (8 Dec 2005)

Brendan Ryan: They could not have a row about this Bill in the Dáil.

Seanad: Statute Law Revision (Pre-1922) Bill 2004 [Seanad Bill amended by the Dáil]: Report and Final Stages. (8 Dec 2005)

Brendan Ryan: No wonder lawyers are rich.