Brian O'Shea (Waterford, Labour)

I very much welcome the opening to the public of the military archive. If the commemoration in 2016 is focused mainly on military parades and so on, would that be the best monument to the men and women of 1916 and what they stood for? I put it to the Minister that to have social objectives achieved before 2016 would be a much more fitting monument to the people of 1916. They took a military road because they wanted to achieve something — like the founder of my party, they want to change what is to what ought to be.

As an example, the Government has a target in Towards 2016 to reduce the rate of illiteracy to one in six. How much of a monument is that to the people of 1916? Would it not be preferable if a programme were embarked upon, in conjunction with the other matters, to tackle issues such as the 30% rate of illiteracy in some schools, as well as problems with numeracy and homelessness? It would be best if these social problems were tackled in a focused and effective way so we would have an achievement that would really be a great tribute to those who made that huge sacrifice almost a century ago.

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