Colm Brophy (Dublin South West, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Ceann Comhairle for the opportunity to speak on this issue. What I am specifically looking for is a fixed date in the calendar as a national commemoration date for the Famine. The Famine was the greatest tragedy that befell our country. It was far and away the greatest loss of Irish life not only in the history of our own State but in the island of Ireland's existence, and yet we do not have a date in the calendar to commemorate it. We have a date to commemorate 1916 and one to commemorate all those who died in other wars on behalf of our country, but what is, perhaps, our country's greatest tragedy is somehow not deemed important enough to be marked by a permanent date in the calendar. This is no longer acceptable.

I have written to the Minister, Deputy Humphreys, who was kind enough to reply to me, and I have submitted a parliamentary question, as have a number of other Deputies. The issue of whether we should have a permanent date or a floating date, as is currently the case, has also been raised with me by groups in my constituency. The Minister, who is chair of the commemoration committee, has advocated that a floating date is acceptable because it has a number of benefits. I am afraid I do not agree with the Minister on this and I cannot accept her argument.

Two matters are of vital importance and would benefit hugely from a permanent date. The first is that if we want to embed into the next generation of children in this country what the Famine was and what it did to our country then there is a need to have a permanent date in the calendar which can be worked to on a yearly basis as part of the school curriculum. This would enable teachers to work with their students in particular to build a programme around recognising what the Famine was, how it affected our people and how it affects the Ireland in which we live today. That cannot be done properly if the date is set on an ad hocbasis, based on who may or may not be available to attend at some point in a given year.

The other point is that the Famine, by its very nature and by the emigration that followed in the centuries after it, effectively internationalised this event for Ireland. The diaspora, the people who are Irish but born and living in countries all over this world, particularly in the United States, should be fully involved in commemorating what is our greatest tragedy. Again, this can only be done if one can say to people that on a given Sunday, year in, year out, Ireland will mark this national tragedy.

We need not mark it just as a tragedy. We can also mark it as what we have come from as a country, where we are going, and how it has affected our people. It can be a source on which the current generation can work together with the next generation and the Irish diaspora throughout the world. However, the first thing that needs to change is a mentality that does not accept that this greatest ever Irish tragedy is not worthy of a fixed date in our calendar. I strongly urge the Minister and the Government to reconsider their position on this and to put forward a date in the calendar, preferably in the spring, which will forever mark this occasion and allow it to be our third commemoration day.

Marcella Corcoran Kennedy (Offaly, Fine Gael)
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I thank Deputy Brophy for raising this very important issue. I extend the apologies of the Minister of State at the Department of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht, Deputy Ring, who is unavoidably detained elsewhere and so asked me to help out this evening.

The Great Famine was undoubtedly one of the most significant events in this island's history. The failure of the potato crop during the 1840s not only led to enormous suffering and loss of life but also changed Ireland's demographic and cultural landscape. The effects of this change can still be felt today. In order to appropriately remember the victims of hunger and disease and those who had to leave to make a new life abroad during those tragic years, a Government decision was taken in 2008 to commemorate the Great Irish Famine with an annual national Famine memorial day. As part of that process, the national Famine commemoration committee was also established to consider the most appropriate arrangements for the annual national commemoration of the Great Famine.

The committee, which is chaired by the Minister, Deputy Humphreys, is made up of representatives from the following: the Department of Education and Skills; the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade; the Department of Defence; the Defence Forces; the Department of the Taoiseach; Irish Aid; and aid agencies; as well as historians and other interested parties. The general legacy of emigration, cultural loss and the decline of the Irish language, together with the specific issues of food security and the strong commitment of the Irish people to humanitarian aid and relief, are particular themes that have been explored by the committee in the course of its work. The Minister has been impressed by the knowledge, compassion and commitment the committee members bring to their work in commemorating the Irish Famine and in raising awareness of current hunger issues in the world today.

The national Famine commemoration is the centrepiece of the committee's commemorative work in relation to the Famine. The commemoration is a significant State ceremonial event, usually led by the President or An Taoiseach, and attended by representatives of the diplomatic corps, public representatives and other dignitaries. The ceremony itself is comprised of two parts, opening with activities that have local community involvement and culminating in the formal State commemoration, which includes the national flag, military honours and wreath-laying ceremonies. The event is open to the public and takes place at a site which is significant to the Great Irish Famine.

In choosing a location for the national Famine commemoration, the committee has adopted the approach of rotating the location of the annual commemoration in sequence between the four provinces, in recognition of the fact that the Great Famine affected all parts of the island. The first commemoration took place in Dublin in 2008 and the commemoration has now visited all four provinces twice. Both the committee and the Department have worked with each of the host communities in Skibbereen, Murrisk, Clones, Drogheda, Kilrush, Strokestown, Newry and Dublin to appropriately commemorate and raise awareness of the suffering which took place during the Famine in these areas and elsewhere.

In relation to the call for a fixed date for the Famine commemoration ceremony, I understand this matter has been discussed by the national Famine commemoration committee. While the initial aspirations of the committee were to hold the ceremony on the second Sunday of May each year, it was always apparent that a degree of flexibility was necessary for a number of reasons. For example, the availability of the President, or An Taoiseach, to lead the official representation at the commemoration has been a factor in deciding upon the date of the State ceremony. The host venue and community have also been consulted in relation to proposed dates to cater for particular circumstances which may arise around the arrangements and to allow organisers to develop a fitting programme of locally organised events, many of which have been tied in with dates of important local significance. To illustrate, in 2015 the commemoration was held in September due to organisational matters which arose as a result of the staging of the event for the first time in Northern Ireland. The event, which was held in Newry, County Down, proved to be a great success, with significant cross-communityrepresentation.

Seán Ó Fearghaíl (Kildare South, Ceann Comhairle)
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I thank the Minister of State. The balance of her reply will be sent to the Deputy.

Colm Brophy (Dublin South West, Fine Gael)
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I appreciate the Minister of State's reply and the points made by her and the points communicated to me by the Minister, Deputy Humphreys, in her written reply to me. However, I do not accept them and I will go back to the core point I made. It is a matter of how one prioritises this. The date should be fixed in the diary in the same way that 1916 is and in the same way as our other commemoration date for all those who died.

If both the President and Taoiseach know that it will be commemorated year in, year out on a certain date, an effort will be made to ensure it is in their diary. If someone knows that a date is in a diary, they can work towards such things as moving the event around the country and using the four provinces of the island. On almost every level, namely, organisation, planning and delivery, it makes far more sense. The committee has done some excellent work over the years and had an idea of fixing the date. I urge it to revisit this. It is not good enough to say it is a floating date as we would not accept a floating date for our other national days of commemoration. No one would suggest marking Easter 1916 somewhere in September. This is the greatest tragedy to have befallen the people and I do not think it is too difficult for us to put a date in our diary to mark it every year. I ask the Minister to reconsider and I will ask the Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht, Deputy Heather Humphreys, again in the future.

Marcella Corcoran Kennedy (Offaly, Fine Gael)
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That a date for the national Famine commemoration ceremony is not fixed does not in any way lessen its importance. On the contrary, it is the level of importance which is accorded to ensuring the commemoration befits the enormity of the event it commemorates and the scale of the losses those events entailed which dictate its flexibility in the schedule. Commemorating events of such magnitude demands that our national commemoration be of the highest standard and the recommendations and decisions of the national Famine commemoration committee guide the Department's actions in this regard. First and foremost, the national Famine commemoration should be a fitting memorial to the vast swathes of our population lost to death and emigration both nationally and locally in the host community. Achieving this goal as well as the other goals of the committee in terms of community, local and youth participation in the commemoration, highlighting the historical perspective of the event and communicating issues around famine, hunger, food security and aid in the modern world requires a great deal of planning and work both by the Department and the organising committee in the year concerned. This, allied to the fact that, unlike other commemorations, the national Famine commemoration does not take place at a fixed site each year, increases the level of complexity associated with the event and necessitates that flexibility be maintained to ensure the commemoration meets the goals set for it and achieves the level of public attention it demands.

I ask the Deputy and other interested parties to take into account the very legitimate reasons for the schedule of the commemoration and to work to help to deliver what promises to be a wonderfully moving commemoration at Glasnevin cemetery on 11 September. I understand that everybody in the Oireachtas has been invited and I hope as many as possible will attend