Billy Timmins (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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Question 1: To ask the Minister for Defence his plans to commemorate the 1916 Easter Rising at Easter 2006; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [31954/05]

Willie O'Dea (Limerick East, Fianna Fail)
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I want to outline my satisfaction and that of the Defence Forces with this commemoration of the 90th anniversary of the 1916 Easter Rising and also with the reintroduction of the traditional Easter military parade. The Cabinet has decided that the theme of the parade will be a celebration of Óglaigh na hÉireann, successors to the volunteers, serving a democratic State and engaged, through the UN, in the search for global peace.

Following discussions at Cabinet last July, I brought the proposal to the attention of the Chief of Staff and he has engaged in some preliminary planning in this regard. Around the same time, there were preliminary discussions at a senior level between officials in my Department and the Department of the Taoiseach.

As the Deputy will recall, the Defence Forces staged a highly successful parade through Dublin city in 2001 to mark the return of the last Irish contingent to serve in Lebanon and the experiences from this parade will serve as a basis for the organisation of the Easter parade. The involvement of organisations representing former members of the Defence Forces is also being considered.

As the Deputy will also appreciate, it is not possible at this early stage to go into any detail on the proposed composition, nature, cost, etc. of the parade since the Defence Forces are still at a very early stage of preparation in this regard. However, based on the experience of organising previous events such as the Lebanon parade I just mentioned, I am informed that an Easter parade is unlikely to entail significant additional expenditure.

Billy Timmins (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Minister for his reply. While I support the concept of recognising what the 1916 people did and I welcome the re-establishment of a military parade, I want to ask the Minister a few questions. Is he speaking of only one parade based in Dublin or a parade being replicated at various locations throughout the country? Would the Minister have a view on concerns expressed in some quarters that perhaps the Taoiseach, by making the announcement at the Fianna Fáil Ard-Fheis, might not have chosen the most appropriate place to announce it? Perhaps he should have undertaken all-party discussions on it. Perhaps it is not the type of issue that should be politicised.

If my memory serves me correctly, there was talk of setting up a centenary committee to commemorate 1916. Is that a little premature?

Willie O'Dea (Limerick East, Fianna Fail)
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On Deputy Timmins's first question about whether there will be one parade or whether it will be replicated throughout the country, no final decision on that matter has been taken as yet. It is more than likely that it will involve more than one parade in Dublin and that it will involve various parades throughout the country. As I stated, we are still at the very early stages of planning and we would welcome ideas from all sources, including Deputy Timmins who is a former member of the Defence Forces. Any useful suggestions would be gratefully taken on board.

On the announcement at the Ard-Fheis, I suppose that is as good a platform as any place else to make an announcement like this. Frankly, I was surprised at the publicity generated by the fact that it was announced at the Ard-Fheis because this matter has been under discussion since last July. I remember specifically speaking to the Chief of Staff and various people in the Department of Defence to get the matter under way. Obviously there is quite a number of Army officers who knew or heard about it prior to the Taoiseach's official announcement and I am amazed that it did not leak out into the public domain. I thought I had seen it mentioned on some publication or other. Perhaps I am mistaken.

On the centenary committee, certainly the centenary is a long way off but that does not necessarily mean it is premature to prepare for it now. The sooner we start thinking about this, the better. It is a major undertaking and we are giving ourselves plenty of time to plan it.

Billy Timmins (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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Are there proposals to erect some sort of monument prior to this parade or am I mistaken on that?

Willie O'Dea (Limerick East, Fianna Fail)
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No, I am not aware of that.

Joe Sherlock (Cork East, Labour)
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May I ask a supplementary question on that?

Rory O'Hanlon (Cavan-Monaghan, Ceann Comhairle)
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No. It is not in order on a priority question. It is confined to the Member who submitted it.