Aengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Ba mhaith liom mo bhuíochas a ghabháil leo siúd a ghlac páirt sa díospóireacht seo athuair. Is aisteach an rud é, ach is iad na pointí ceanann céanna iad roinnt de na pointí a tháinig suas inniu is a tháinig suas anuraidh nuair a bhí an cheist seo os chomhair na Dála cheana.

Some of the points made in the debate about having an additional bank holiday are interesting and would probably be more appropriately teased out on Committee Stage if the Government or Fianna Fáil do not oppose the legislation. Deputy Eamon Ryan's proposals are interesting. As I said earlier, former Deputy Ruairí Quinn and former Deputy Brian Hayes, now an MEP, talked about additional public holidays, not just one.

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Ireland has nine public holidays and the average in Europe is 11 days. Many countries have substantially more than that.

I will respond to the comments from the Minister after responding to the proposal from Deputy Ó Cuív. His proposal does not address the shortfall in public holidays. Changing the name of an existing public holiday does not address it, but it would have been better than anything else. Given that his party has been in government most often since the founding of the State, I do not know why it was not done in that period. However, it would not address what I am suggesting.

The Minister's comments were quite disingenuous and contradictory across the board. Deputy Jonathan O'Brien has commented on some of them. It is disgraceful to say that this was not raised in the consultation. It was not raised in the public consultation events but in the key consultation forum. I raised it first in 2012 and in each year since then up to this year. I am a member of the public. Others have sent in submissions, not only to me but to other Deputies, seeking this over many years. It is disingenuous to say it was not raised just because it does not suit the Minister's agenda or narrative on this.

It is also contradictory to speak about all the events that were held in the Six Counties and then criticise my Bill for providing for a board that would organise events on a 32-county basis. In case Members did not read the Bill, and this deals with the point Deputy Ó Cuív raised, one of the reasons for establishing a board is that a future Minister with responsibility for arts and heritage could not be accused of being party political. The board would take it out of the hands of political parties and, in some ways, out of the Minister's hands. The board would be appointed by the Joint Committee on Arts, Regional, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs, it having a special interest and expertise in these matters. It is not a case of me picking it.

With regard to the costs associated with setting up a board, in this case the Minister has full control of remuneration, terms and conditions. The Minister could set the remuneration at zero. I did not provide for any remuneration. As to the cost of the events, that was based on setting up a ciste for running the events. If the money is not there, it cannot organise them. The advantage is that it has to do something. It could encourage others. The events would not preclude other organisations, political parties, heritage groups or councils from organising their own events. The key part is to try to ensure that what we have gained this year will continue. The enthusiasm regarding the Proclamation and the Tricolour and the explanation and understanding of the origins of the State and our history among young people today, based on a short period of time, has been substantial. The nation will benefit from that. The understanding of the roles and responsibilities of citizens could be taught and encouraged.

In addition, the board is not limited to having marches, parades or lectures. I specifically set out to ensure that the board would have events which would reflect Irish society as a whole, through art, historical and community events. It provides that it must have sub-committees to ensure that people who have ideas could share them. People want to share their ideas, and when they are shared the ideas hopefully can gain traction and be delivered on.

It is a little disingenuous to say that I am being populist. I am no such thing. I did not invite the masses to the Visitors Gallery or seek to have this legislation lauded from the hilltops. When I first mentioned it to the advisory group some of those who the Minister said never raised it in fact supported it at that group. The former Senators Maurice Manning and Martin Mansergh supported the idea of at least a one-off bank holiday this year and said there was merit in the proposal, yet it is shot down as if that never happened. The problem is that the Minister did not attend that meeting, because a former Minister attended. I can understand that she might not have a recollection of it. However, it was a key point and there was a discussion on it at the meeting. I have been a member of a commemoration committee in the Oireachtas since 2006 - I am probably the longest serving member of it - so I have at least some understanding of what was planned, when plans were shared and what the ideas were. Hopefully, I prompted many of the ideas and events, along with others, by putting ideas forward in the ten years I sat on the committee and gave of my wisdom, if one wishes to call it that.

We do not have a national patriotic or independence day similar to other countries. It is not necessary to have full independence to have such a day. Cyprus, for example, has an independence day even though it is partitioned. Canada has an independence day which it celebrates on 1 July, and it was the Fenians who caused that independence. The two Koreas, even though they are separated by a wall, have a liberation day on 15 August. It would be appropriate for this country to have such a day. The idea is that the day could be used. It would not be a day just for a bit of fun but to try to concentrate minds on citizenship. I have been very critical of the United States and its actions around the world, but look at the way it uses 4 July to revive patriotism and inculcate in its citizens an understanding of what its independence means. Some parts of its community, such as the Native American community, reject that independence altogether, but it is a day when everybody can debate whether it is good, bad or indifferent. We do not have such a designated day.

It was also a little disingenuous of the Minister to quote what ISME had to say, when it is obvious from the figures that we do not have enough public holidays. I have acknowledged that there is a cost, but there is also a benefit. Usually, more money is spent on bank holidays and businesses benefit from that. If there is a series of events in towns and cities, that will not prevent the shops from opening. The owners will have to pay additional money to have the staff work on those days, but they benefit from those days. Ask any business owner in Dublin city centre whether they benefited from the programmes that were organised by the State. The other point is that studies show that people are more productive when they are happy. People are happy when they have a bank holiday. The next day they are happy in their work and probably more productive.

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