Gerry Adams (Louth, Sinn Fein)

Níos luaithe ar maidin inniu, bhíomar uilig ag ocáid chuimhneachán Éirí Amach 1916, ocáid a bhí go han-mhaith. I am sure the Taoiseach will agree that today's ceremony was very moving and a reminder of how much we owe the men and women who proclaimed the Irish Republic, in defiance of an empire, 100 years ago.

In this context, I raise the issue of the deplorable state of the national monument at 14 to 17 Moore Street and the surrounding laneways, which the Taoiseach has visited and which he has described as the lanes of history. This iconic area marks one of the most important sites in modern Irish history. It must be protected and developed as an historic quarter and battlefield site in time for the centenary of the Rising. The Taoiseach has seen 14 to 17 Moore Street. Its condition is a disgrace and is an insult to the memory of those men and women whom it should honour.

É sin ráite, léiríonn a bhfuil ag tarlú i leith an tsuímh seo i láthair na huaire achan rud atá mícheart leis an Stát. Cad é sin? A developer, Mr. Joe O'Reilly, one of the Maple Ten golden circle, is planning to demolish the surrounding area for the building of a shopping complex. This developer is in NAMA, which is now considering funding this development. In other words, Irish taxpayers - Irish citizens - may be asked to pay for the vandalising of a national monument. This is wrong. It stands in stark contrast to the way other states acclaim those who fought for freedom and independence and it totally contradicts the tone of our commemoration this morning.

Will the Taoiseach support the proposition put forward by the families of the 1916 leaders to ensure the 1916 national monument at 14 to 17 Moore Street is fully protected and preserved in its entirety as designated, and that the surrounding buildings, streets and laneways, which the Taoiseach, rightly, called the lanes of history, are retained in order that the potential for this area can be fully developed into a 1916 historical or cultural quarter?

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