Willie O'Dea (Limerick East, Fianna Fail)

I would first like to outline my satisfaction and that of the Defence Forces for this commemoration of the 90th anniversary of the 1916 Easter Rising and the reintroduction of the traditional Easter military parade. The Cabinet has decided that the theme of the parade will be a celebration of Óglaigh na hÉireann, successors to the Volunteers serving a democratic State engaged, through the United Nations, in the search for global peace.

Following discussions at the Cabinet last July, I brought the proposal to the attention of the chief of staff and he has engaged in some preliminary planning in this regard. Around the same time, there were preliminary discussions at senior level between officials in my Department and the Department of the Taoiseach.

As the Deputy will recall, the Defence Forces staged a highly successful parade through Dublin city in 2001 to mark the return of the last Irish contingent to serve in Lebanon and the experiences from this parade will serve as a basis for the organisation of the Easter parade. The involvement of organisations representing former members of the Defence Forces is also under consideration.

As the Deputy will also appreciate, it is not possible at this early stage to go into detail on the proposed composition, nature, cost etc. of the parade since the Defence Forces are still at a very early stage in this regard. However, based on the experience of organising previous events such as the parade I mentioned, I am informed that an Easter parade is unlikely to entail significant additional expenditure.

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