Results 5,321-5,340 of 6,030 for speaker:Brendan Ryan

Seanad: Order of Business. (15 May 2003)

Brendan Ryan: It has already happened.

Seanad: Order of Business. (15 May 2003)

Brendan Ryan: What is he proposing? We would like to know.

Seanad: Order of Business. (15 May 2003)

Brendan Ryan: How many of them contribute to Fianna Fáil?

Seanad: Order of Business. (15 May 2003)

Brendan Ryan: Yes. Amendment put: "To insert, before No. 1, statements on the proposal to reintroduce third level fees." Tá

Seanad: Order of Business. (14 May 2003)

Brendan Ryan: We agree to the Order of Business. However, when we agreed to it, we were under the clear impression – it was not the Leader's fault – that the Redundancy Payments Bill would be retrospective and apply to a few cases of recent redundancies. I want to make it clear that the Leader did not behave in any way other than impeccably. We would not have agreed to the Bill being taken with such...

Seanad: Order of Business. (14 May 2003)

Brendan Ryan: I say that to the Government, not the Leader who behaved impeccably in this matter. There was an appalling atrocity in Riyadh yesterday. All democratic Governments must do two things. We must deal with the problem of terrorism but we must also ensure the response to it is not so ham-fisted, clumsy and disproportionate that it encourages further terrorism. That is the reason I want the matter...

Seanad: Order of Business. (14 May 2003)

Brendan Ryan: I heard exactly what the Minister said.

Seanad: Order of Business. (14 May 2003)

Brendan Ryan: Hear, hear.

Seanad: Road Safety: Motion. (14 May 2003)

Brendan Ryan: Before I address the motion, I refer to the nonsense uttered by my good friend, Senator Ross. He has a remarkably selective view of the Government and its predecessors. If Deputy Quinn, as Minister for Finance, had behaved with the same level of irresponsibility as the current Minister for Finance in the two years prior to the 1997 election, the Government parties would never have seen the...

Seanad: Road Safety: Motion. (14 May 2003)

Brendan Ryan: I accept that Senator Dooley has a limited opinion of my abilities, but I know the difference between being on a train and driving a car. I have begun to believe that statistic of one in 1,400 is a fact. My journeys have been speedier than I expected. I thought that once the penalty points system was introduced everybody who needed their driving licence to do their job would be particularly...

Seanad: Order of Business. (8 May 2003)

Brendan Ryan: We have had various requests over some time for a debate on competitiveness, as well as comments about public servants and public service benchmarking. We ought to have that debate, because virtually all the media people who criticise benchmarking are paid a hell of a lot better than 95% of the public servants they criticise. They have managed to benchmark themselves during the great boom...

Seanad: Order of Business. (8 May 2003)

Brendan Ryan: That is a very difficult thing to do.

Seanad: Order of Business. (8 May 2003)

Brendan Ryan: I apologise. The second thing is that benchmarking was entered into because the same people who are now criticising it took great exception to the old concept of relativities in the public service and wanted something based on private sector practice. The problem was that the private sector demanded that all the records of the benchmarking body be destroyed, so we do not know how that body...

Seanad: Northern Ireland: Statements. (8 May 2003)

Brendan Ryan: I share a sense of frustration and feel the need to restrain my language at a time like this. Such a feeling is common to everyone and it was evident in the Minister's contribution. The Irish and British Governments made heroic efforts in this area and I do not want it suggested that any comments I make are bit meant to be party political. That is not the case; they are simply reflections...

Seanad: Order of Business. (7 May 2003)

Brendan Ryan: I was on strike last Thursday as a member of the staff of CIT. I did this not to benefit myself but because the Government has betrayed the Cork School of Music. It told staff and students to vacate a building to facilitate contractors and that they would have new premises. It then negotiated a contractor into being the sole contractor and is now attempting to back out. If that happened in...

Seanad: Order of Business. (7 May 2003)

Brendan Ryan: I ask the Leader to allow us to debate music education in the two biggest cities in the State in Government time. Both cities are in danger of losing publicly provided music education. That is as close to cultural vandalism as I can imagine a Government can get.

Seanad: Order of Business. (7 May 2003)

Brendan Ryan: Hear, hear.

Seanad: Tobacco and Alcohol Consumption: Motion. (7 May 2003)

Brendan Ryan: I move:

Seanad: Tobacco and Alcohol Consumption: Motion. (7 May 2003)

Brendan Ryan: What about pubs?

Seanad: Tobacco and Alcohol Consumption: Motion. (7 May 2003)

Brendan Ryan: That was a long time ago.