Enda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I am glad to be here for the committee to consider the 2016 Estimates for Votes 1 to 6, excluding Vote 4, covering the Central Statistics Office, which has already been approved by the Dáil. I was not able to provide members with an advance copy of the briefing material but I know they are anxious for material on the UK referendum so I have circulated that. The Estimates are for the President's Establishment, the Department of the Taoiseach, the Office of the Attorney General, the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions and the Office of the Chief State Solicitor. I am joined by staff from the Department, namely, Mr. Martin Fraser, Secretary General; Mr. John Shaw, assistant secretary; Ms Mary Keenan, head of corporate affairs; and Ms Geraldine Butler, finance officer.

The Revised Estimate for 2016 in respect of the President's Establishment is €3.811 million. This includes €2.6 million for pay and administration, with the balance for the centenarians' bounty. It is estimated that 420 centenarians will receive the bounty in 2016. Increased funding was provided to cover the cost of the President's 1916 centenary event in Áras an Uachtaráin.

The figure for the Department of the Taoiseach is €29.35 million, which includes €16.68 million for pay and administration. The core role of the Department is to support the executive functions of the Taoiseach and the Government and to oversee the implementation of the programme for partnership Government. There are four Ministers of State: a Chief Whip; a Minister of State for European affairs, data protection and the EU digital single market; a Minister for diaspora affairs; and a Minister of State with responsibility for defence. An important part of this Department's work is providing the secretariat for meetings of the Government and Cabinet committees. I established a number of Cabinet sub-committees, from housing to arts, Irish and the Gaeltacht, which I chair myself. It has recently been difficult to get fixed times for meetings but we will work out a convenient time for members to attend. The Department deals with all the items listed on page 7, such as Cabinet meetings, Government meetings, press events, freedom of information requests and so on.

The 2016 centenary commemorations were an important part of the work of the Department of the Taoiseach. The Secretary General chaired the steering group and that led to a cross-departmental effort in which everybody played their part. I am very proud of the efforts people made, the time they gave to it and the comprehensive, sensitive and inclusive manner in which it was carried out. Planning for the anniversary of the 1916 Easter Rising started in late 2014 and involved a collaboration across a range of Departments. At the heart of the process was a need to stimulate debate and the wealth of books, material, pamphlets and information that has now come to light about 1916 and the families and people of the time has been a revelation for most people. People now look at our flag differently and have a much deeper understanding of the movement from 1916 through to independence. The highlights included a wet day on 1 January in Dublin Castle when the flag was raised; the Easter Sunday wreath-laying ceremony in Kilmainham; the Easter Sunday ceremony in the GPO and the parade; the Easter Sunday State reception at Dublin Castle; and the inter-faith ceremony at the Glasnevin cemetery remembrance wall. All were seminal moments and they were conducted in an exemplary way.

The Department is also co-ordinating the ceremony at the Irish National War Memorial Gardens at Islandbridge to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the battle of the Somme. The Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht is in France today and the President will be there tomorrow. President Hollande will be here towards the end of the month as part of the Somme commemorative events and an additional €433,000 has been allocated for a commemoration programme. I commend the staff of the Department, who gave many long hours over and above the call of duty to make this a real success, and I was really proud of them.

The committee discussed the results of the UK referendum with the Minister for Finance earlier and I will also take any questions members may have. We published a national risk assessment on this in 2014 and in March 2015 we set up a dedicated unit in the Department of the Taoiseach to look at contingencies in the event that the British electorate decided to vote to leave. The European Council met on Tuesday and Wednesday and I will talk to members about that if they wish. On Tuesday, the Prime Minister, David Cameron, gave a presentation on the background to the result and on Wednesday morning, with the British Prime Minister absent, there was a full-scale discussion for a number of hours about the situation and how the resulting issues should be addressed. Our interests are in the extent of trade across the Irish Sea, the common travel area, the peace process, an open border and maintaining our links with Northern Ireland, the UK and the European Union.