Results 5,141-5,160 of 6,030 for speaker:Brendan Ryan

Seanad: Order of Business. (8 Oct 2003)

Brendan Ryan: I suggest that all those under pressure should attend the meeting to hear the other side of the argument.

Seanad: Order of Business. (8 Oct 2003)

Brendan Ryan: They should stay away from the publicans for a while.

Seanad: Order of Business. (8 Oct 2003)

Brendan Ryan: They should listen to the people who know the truth and the whole story.

Seanad: Order of Business. (8 Oct 2003)

Brendan Ryan: I want to ensure that Senators are aware of the meeting in question. I ask the Leader to arrange a debate in this House about the non-cost elements of competitiveness. Too many people in this country, particularly economists, get away with examining the price of labour, goods or anything else and making judgments about competitiveness on that basis. A report published last year suggested that...

Seanad: Order of Business. (8 Oct 2003)

Brendan Ryan: They are not terrorist attacks. The attackers are wrong but they are not terrorists.

Seanad: Order of Business. (8 Oct 2003)

Brendan Ryan: Yes.

Seanad: Order of Business. (8 Oct 2003)

Brendan Ryan: We know why.

Seanad: Commission to Inquire into Child Abuse: Statements (Resumed). (8 Oct 2003)

Brendan Ryan: I apologise for my late arrival. I had assumed that the Independent benches would be awash with people wishing to speak. I am reluctant, although I probably will be tempted, to accord political blame on this question. I remember when the issue of redress was being debated and the then Minister for Education and Science came into the House. In response to every question I asked him about...

Seanad: Commission to Inquire into Child Abuse: Statements (Resumed). (8 Oct 2003)

Brendan Ryan: I am sorry Senator Fitzgerald spoke because I would love to hear which part is rubbish. I cite J. H. Whyte's book, Church and State in Modern Ireland, in which he will see the degree to which the Roman Catholic hierarchy demanded subservience from everybody.

Seanad: Commission to Inquire into Child Abuse: Statements (Resumed). (8 Oct 2003)

Brendan Ryan: Taoisigh and Presidents genuflected before bishops and kissed their rings and thought that was the appropriate institutional relationship. If that is what Senator Fitzgerald hankers for, let him do so.

Seanad: Commission to Inquire into Child Abuse: Statements (Resumed). (8 Oct 2003)

Brendan Ryan: My view of the role of religion in society is of service to society, not control, regulation or dominance. It corrupted both church and State. We are dealing today in these issues with the evidence of that corruption and its capacity to allow evil people access to the most vulnerable of our children to abuse them in an institutionalised fashion. I do not believe that all the institutions did...

Seanad: Commission to Inquire into Child Abuse: Statements (Resumed). (8 Oct 2003)

Brendan Ryan: With the Acting Chairman's considerable defensive skill assisting me, the point I wish to make is that the argument that somehow society in the 1950s was at best equally and perhaps slightly more culpable because these poor institutions or religious orders were invited in to do the job the State would not do is a complete travesty of the situation at the time. They insisted on total control...

Seanad: Commission to Inquire into Child Abuse: Statements (Resumed). (8 Oct 2003)

Brendan Ryan: About ten or 15 years ago, I attended a meeting and a question arose at the end about young people and their safety. A Garda chief superintendent was in attendance and he said that, in his view, most of the talk about child sex abuse that was heard in Ireland around 15 years ago was put about by people who wanted to undermine the family. That was the view of a huge section of society until...

Seanad: Benchmarking: Motion. (8 Oct 2003)

Brendan Ryan: There is no doubt about that.

Seanad: Benchmarking: Motion. (8 Oct 2003)

Brendan Ryan: I do not do so ad nauseum.

Seanad: Benchmarking: Motion. (8 Oct 2003)

Brendan Ryan: Always the same from Senator Ross.

Seanad: Benchmarking: Motion. (8 Oct 2003)

Brendan Ryan: He joined the public sector.

Seanad: Benchmarking: Motion. (8 Oct 2003)

Brendan Ryan: I am intrigued by Fine Gael's position, in the sense that I am intellectually challenged by it.

Seanad: Benchmarking: Motion. (8 Oct 2003)

Brendan Ryan: If well-off people like myself were the issue, Fine Gael would propose that we pay 50% tax on large parts of our income. However, if they did so a large number of Fine Gael supporters would drop dead with fright. People on incomes such as mine are not paying half enough income tax. I did not support the cuts in the top rate of income tax. They achieved nothing. They did not make me or anyone...

Seanad: Benchmarking: Motion. (8 Oct 2003)

Brendan Ryan: It is easy to attack public servants, but Fine Gael wants the sort of people who save money to vote for them.