Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Basically, the Deputy is saying we will have it, which I do not think anybody is disputing. He said the second Sunday presented a difficulty but that he was agreeable to the third, which is fine. Then we have the military and interfaith service, about which there is no problem. Then the Bill states the central venue for the commemoration "shall be designated by the Taoiseach". The problem I have with that is that, technically, the Taoiseach could decide whatever date he or she wanted. Even if we were to replace the Taoiseach with the Minister, it would still be problematic because it was designed at the beginning to involve an advisory committee. In principle and practice, it was never envisaged that anything would be decided without the involvement of the advisory committee, with the Minister as chairperson. When drafting the Bill, I suggest the advisory committee be included in order that the Taoiseach would designate a venue on its advice. Technically, according to the Bill, we could destroy what is in place already. We could take out the reference to the advisory committee and leave it to the Taoiseach of the day or the Minister to decide, if amended thus. There is no mention of either the Taoiseach or the Minister having to seek the advice of the advisory committee, but that is actually the key element of how the decisions were made. They were not made by an individual on a unilateral basis. They were made by an advisory committee that was very broad ranging and included current day Famine interests, including Trócaire, Gorta and so on, various experts, as well as officials from the relevant Departments. This key element is actually missing from the Bill.