Mr. Conor Falvey:

Given the almost total overlap between my remarks and those of Dr. Manning, I will skip them for the benefit of the committee. However, there is a series of structures in place to assist the Government on the delivery of the programme of commemorations over the second half of the decade. Primary among those is the expert advisory group itself, which has provided advice that the Government has accepted on the appropriate manner and mechanisms for commemorating these events over the next number of years. In addition to that, there is the all-party Oireachtas group, which meets regularly and has made a very important and valuable contribution to the commemoration of these seminal events.

It is important to point out that there are a whole range of stakeholders across civil society, national cultural institutions, other Government Departments and local authorities. In particular, and building on the work of the expert advisory committee over a great number of years, is the work of local historical societies and interest groups. That was very much reflected in one of the key events of last year in Soloheadbeg in Tipperary. Tipperary County Council is here with us today, and I would like to congratulate it on its recent award from Chambers Ireland for its events.

A wide range of stakeholders have come forward with proposals, and the Government has committed €2 million in the context of the budget Estimates for 2020, which is an increase of around €900,000. We have more or less doubled the resource. That has largely been applied to supporting the local authorities, the academic community and our cultural institutions and a range of other measures in 2020 that will give rise to a programme that will go to Government shortly. There is a number of strands under creative imagination, historical exploration and community. Our proposals in those areas are well developed, but they are constantly evolving as various stakeholders come forward with proposals. At some stage we will need to draw a line under that and produce the highlight for people to see. Whatever list will be produced will never be exhaustive. Events are being proposed and delivered through a whole range of stakeholders, including at a local level, and it is very difficult to capture the full value of that in a single document. If the committee has any questions, I would more than happy to respond to them.