Results 4,981-5,000 of 6,030 for speaker:Brendan Ryan

Seanad: Revenue Commissioners: Motion. (18 Feb 2004)

Brendan Ryan: In their egos.

Seanad: Revenue Commissioners: Motion. (18 Feb 2004)

Brendan Ryan: And in court.

Seanad: Revenue Commissioners: Motion. (18 Feb 2004)

Brendan Ryan: I thank Members for what was a reasonably serious debate. What prompted me to raise this issue, and I did so on the Order of Business, was a report, which I have not heard contradicted, that the Revenue had concluded that there was no evidence that any bank encouraged people to set up bogus offshore accounts of which there were 145,000 in their heyday. I am supposed to believe there is no...

Seanad: Order of Business. (18 Feb 2004)

Brendan Ryan: Hear, hear.

Seanad: Order of Business. (18 Feb 2004)

Brendan Ryan: On the recommendation of a committee.

Seanad: Order of Business. (18 Feb 2004)

Brendan Ryan: It was introduced as a result of the DIRT inquiry.

Seanad: European of the Year: Statements. (18 Feb 2004)

Brendan Ryan: It is difficult to add to what everybody else has said. The Labour Party group agrees with all the sentiments expressed. As perhaps one of the few Members of the Oireachtas with a foot in the camp that was most hostile to the European project over many years, I must say that none of those I know who approached the forum with scepticism left it with other than a feeling that they were treated...

Seanad: Order of Business. (18 Feb 2004)

Brendan Ryan: It is a great pity that it takes such enormous effort to get a Government to realise we are not all Luddites because we are wary of the method of electronic voting that is being introduced. The constituents I serve in the NUI are an undemanding group by and large — some say that is why they vote for me. Many a Fianna Fáil member has tried the same route and failed gloriously so I would not...

Seanad: Order of Business. (18 Feb 2004)

Brendan Ryan: Why would they do such a thing?

Seanad: Order of Business. (18 Feb 2004)

Brendan Ryan: A body has been set up. I have a document produced by Relate telling me how it will be done. The Government suddenly decided it would not do that, but would do it a different way. This is a Government which has given us lectures about decentralisation and taking power out of the centre, but it grabs back to itself €180 million to spend as it wishes over the next six months.

Seanad: Order of Business. (18 Feb 2004)

Brendan Ryan: We need to hear in detail in this House why that decision was taken.

Seanad: European Parliament Elections (Amendment) Bill 2003: Second Stage. (12 Feb 2004)

Brendan Ryan: I do not want to say too much. We had a thorough debate yesterday on the electronic voting aspect of this election. It is a pity the Government insists on saying that everybody who criticises what it is doing is an opponent of electronic voting. I am quite the opposite. I am also computer literate, and I am sure many Members are as computer literate as me. The one thing I know is that...

Seanad: European Parliament Elections (Amendment) Bill 2003: Second Stage. (12 Feb 2004)

Brendan Ryan: I will cease to be a Member of the House if I am elected to the European Parliament.

Seanad: European Parliament Elections (Amendment) Bill 2003: Second Stage. (12 Feb 2004)

Brendan Ryan: We miss County Clare, particularly its music and hurling, and we may even miss Senator Daly.

Seanad: European Parliament Elections (Amendment) Bill 2003: Second Stage. (12 Feb 2004)

Brendan Ryan: I would cease to be a Member of the House if elected to the European Parliament because membership of this House is irreconcilable with the job of MEP.

Seanad: European Parliament Elections (Amendment) Bill 2003: Second Stage. (12 Feb 2004)

Brendan Ryan: I am sure Senator Mansergh would not want to lose me as he would have nobody to provoke him. The Government parties will probably have two Deputies running in Leinster, two in Connacht-Ulster and one elsewhere. If they are successful, the Government will conveniently postpone five by-elections until after the next general election. The derogation in the legislation, included for the...

Seanad: Order of Business. (12 Feb 2004)

Brendan Ryan: Yesterday, 44 people were killed in horrible circumstances in Baghdad, and subsequently two American soldiers were killed, equally horribly, and the world is outraged. Yesterday too, 14 people were killed by the Israeli defence forces in Gaza. It would be a very useful exercise for this House to talk about how the world views the Middle East because quite clearly a Palestinian life is now...

Seanad: Order of Business. (12 Feb 2004)

Brendan Ryan: It would be nice to see him.

Seanad: Regional Development: Motion. (11 Feb 2004)

Brendan Ryan: Not for the first time the Labour Party is in the position, via its leader in this case, of having to inject a bit of reality into the nonsense Fianna Fáil goes on with before elections. Sometimes Fianna Fáil persuades people, as it did in the last general election, and then must face the truth afterwards. This time, I suspect, it is not persuading people. The obviously inappropriate...

Seanad: Regional Development: Motion. (11 Feb 2004)

Brendan Ryan: I really feel threatened by Senator Mooney and I thank the Leas-Chathaoirleach for his defence. I must explain this in small words so that the Members opposite understand it because they apparently do not want to listen.