Willie O'Dea (Limerick East, Fianna Fail)

I propose to take Questions Nos. 6, 52 and 166 together.

The Easter Rising of 1916 will be commemorated by a military parade in Dublin on Sunday, 16 April 2006. Preparations for the parade, as announced by the Taoiseach last October, are being made by the Defence Forces. Approximately 2,500 personnel representing all branches of the forces together with representatives of ex-service personnel and veterans of UN service will be included. The parade will also include members of the Garda Síochána, representing their service abroad with the United Nations. A fly-past by the Aer Corps is also envisaged.

The parade will depart from Dublin Castle and will pass through Dame Street, College Green and O'Connell Street. There will be a reading of the proclamation outside the GPO and appropriate military honours will be rendered. The event will be televised live and it will be possible to view the parade along the route from Dublin Castle to O'Connell Street. I will be present on the viewing stand at the GPO.

This 90th anniversary of the Easter Rising will also be marked by a wreath-laying ceremony in Kilmainham Gaol earlier that morning and by a Government reception at Dublin Castle that evening. Officials of my Department and officers of the Defence Forces are represented on an interdepartmental working group, chaired by the Department of the Taoiseach, which is overseeing all the logistical arrangements for the parade and associated events. This group is meeting regularly and includes, inter alia, representatives from the Garda Síochána, Dublin City Council, the fire services and the Office of Public Works. Many logistical issues such as the parade route, road closures, health and safety regulations and publicity must be addressed and the group is dealing with these issues.

The group is also dealing with the issue of invitations to the viewing stands outside the GPO. The invitations being issued for the ceremonies this year include the relatives of the 1916 leaders and volunteers who were killed in action in 1916 based on the list used for the annual Arbour Hill commemoration.

As the House can appreciate, there are space limitations in O'Connell Street which restrict the number of places on the reviewing stand to approximately 900 people. Provision must be made for the categories which normally, in part or in whole, make up the invitation lists for State events. These include the Government, the Council of State, Deputies, Senators, the Judiciary, the diplomatic corps, semi-State organisations, social partners, national cultural and sporting organisations and the universities.

On the invitation of the Taoiseach, all parties in the Oireachtas have nominated spokespersons to offer advice on the appropriate scope and content of a 1916 centenary commemoration committee to be put in place in coming years. I understand that the first meeting of this group will take place next week.

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