Results 4,261-4,280 of 6,030 for speaker:Brendan Ryan

Seanad: State Airports: Motion. (20 Apr 2005)

Brendan Ryan: I have no particular hang-up, based on daft ideological grounds, about the ownership of airports and other facilities, nor do I have an ideological hang-up that competition always produces better services. The example of the health care system in the United States should calm all those who get too carried away with ideology. The US spends between 14% and 15% of gross domestic product on...

Seanad: State Airports: Motion. (20 Apr 2005)

Brendan Ryan: There is also the city airport. I beg the Senator's pardon.

Seanad: State Airports: Motion. (20 Apr 2005)

Brendan Ryan: In spite of the fact that Stansted is a vigorously competing airport, airport charges in Heathrow are extremely high. If one books a return air fare from Cork to Heathrow to travel next August, as I happen to have done recently, the air fare is actually €9 with Aer Lingus. However, the ticket costs €54. The charges come to €45, most of which are incurred in Heathrow. I wish the two...

Seanad: State Airports: Motion. (20 Apr 2005)

Brendan Ryan: The Government has been in power for seven years.

Seanad: State Airports: Motion. (20 Apr 2005)

Brendan Ryan: Hear hear.

Seanad: Order of Business. (20 Apr 2005)

Brendan Ryan: There was a long discussion on radio this morning on the Health and Safety Authority's review of safety in accident and emergency departments. As a sometimes engineer who endeavours to teach people the rudiments of safety, it is shocking to find that a large number of accident and emergency units have been reported to the fire service for rudimentary failures such as blocking emergency...

Seanad: Order of Business. (20 Apr 2005)

Brendan Ryan: The matter on the Order Paper relates to accident and emergency services but this is a matter capable of being remedied instantaneously by good management. I do not believe there is an overnight solution to accident and emergency because of the eight years of neglect it has suffered. I was in Nairobi last week at a conference on peace in the Great Lakes region and I tried to be helpful, which...

Seanad: Order of Business. (24 Mar 2005)

Brendan Ryan: I admire, without qualification, the courage and humanity of the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform. He did something many Ministers I have known would never have had the bottle, capacity or confidence to do. I will be nothing other than fulsome and vigorous in saying the Minister did the right thing, graciously and well. I hope the young man in question will benefit from the extra...

Seanad: Death of Former Member: Expressions of Sympathy. (24 Mar 2005)

Brendan Ryan: Is beag eile atá le rá faoi Pól Ó Foighil, ach caithfidh mé a rá gur baineadh an-gheit asam nuair a chuala mé go raibh sé imithe uainn, cosúil le gach éinne. An-gheit eile a baineadh asam ná nuair a fuair mé amach na blianta a bhí curtha siar aige. Bhí sé dochreidte domsa go raibh sé i lár na 70s mar bhí an oiread sin fuinnimh aige agus bhí sé chomh gníomhach is a bhí...

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.

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

Brendan Ryan: The Minister in his script mentions penalties if the criteria are not met. It would be lovely to know what the criteria will be for future tolls. Will it be a five minute, ten minute or 20 minute delay? What we do know is that in the famous all-Ireland final in which there were two Ulster counties, there was a queue of traffic endeavouring to come on to the new motorway at the Drogheda bypass...

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: 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...