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

As someone who has been a member of the all-party committee on commemorations since 2006 when it was first mooted by Bertie Ahern, I believe it is a good scheme and it needs to happen. Most of the ideas the State used came through that mechanism. The Minister is now running out of time.

Local authorities were brought on board late in the day for the 2016 commemorations and they delivered a lot better than was expected considering the very short notice. I appeal to the Minister to bring the consultation to a conclusion and to allocate the money in the budget in order that planning can go ahead.

One of the things that was also successful during 2016 was the national capital projects. They take a lot more planning than six months. We are running very close to An Chéad Dáil commemoration events and the election before that, but there are also key moments during the war and some planning is required so that we end up with some capital projects, some monumental events and have some monuments left behind. That cannot happen overnight.

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