Trevor Ó Clochartaigh (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

This plan, which has been a long time coming, it is very short on substance. Why has it taken the Government three years to come up with a plan for the various events and why has the planned three-month consultative process not happened? Why has the input of the Oireachtas consultation group on centenary commemorations been virtually ignored? My colleague Deputy Aengus Ó Snodaigh and others in the group discussed numerous ideas and offered well thought-out proposals for the commemoration, all of which, it would appear, have gone unheeded. The glossy brochures presented last evening, with their smart artist’s impressions and colourful formats, are devoid of any real substance or specifics. One can only conclude the whole thing was literally thrown together a day or two ago.

This slapdash approach to 1916 is not only disrespectful to the valiant men and women of the Irish Citizen Army, the Irish Volunteers and the IRB; it also betrays a callous and cynical indifference to the ideals, hopes and vision of a free Ireland that those people held. Therein lies the rub. This is the very thing that scares the living daylights out of all of the establishment parties, particularly the current Government. The fact is that Ireland's key cultural institutions are in a state of neglect and disarray owing to a shocking lack of public funding. Year after year, budget after budget, the Government has cut funding to the key cultural institutions. Indeed, when it comes to funding and supports, the Government's record is abysmal. As is so often noted, there is madness in starving these institutions to the point of unsustainability at the very same time as public interest in what they are doing is booming.

I acknowledge that the Government has supported the restoration of Richmond Barracks and Kilmainham Courthouse. However, in Kilmainham Gaol, the second most visited tourist site in the country, we see yet another lost opportunity owing to a lack of vision and funding. It is now almost impossible for members of the public to gain access to the gaol during the summer because almost all of the tours are pre-booked by touring companies. While I welcome the fact that Richmond Barracks, Kilmainham Courthouse and Pearse’s Cottage in Ros Muc are all either undergoing or about to undergo a process of restoration, I am baffled by the inclusion of the National Concert Hall and the tenement project in Henrietta Street in the commemoration plans.

Cuirim fáilte faoi leith roimh an togra i Ros Muc. Ach maidir leis an Ghaeilge, atá luaite sa bplean mar chuid lárnach agus go deimhin bhí sí lárnach i bhfís sínitheorí Fhorógra na Poblachta agus an dream a sheas suas i 1916 ach tá easpa léiriú na físe sin le feiceáil sa méid atá á chomóradh ag an Rialtas. Mar shampla, rinne Conradh na Gaeilge cánadh géar déanta ar maidin ar an bplean. Deir an tUasal Cóilín Ó Cearbhaill, uachtarán Chonradh na Gaeilge, nach bhfuil aon tionscnamh ann a láidreoidh an Ghaeilge mar theanga phobal, cur chuige a luífeadh le fís ceannais 1916. Tá dearcadh an Rialtais i leith na Gaeilge i saol oifigiúil na tíre seo soiléir agus teideal Béarla baistithe ar an gclár - "Ireland 2016" in áit "Éire 2016" - agus trí suíomh gréasáin comórtha a sheoladh atá maslach, míphroifisiúnta agus a thugann ísliú stádais eile don Ghaeilge. It would appear that the Irish language version of the website the Minister has launched used a translation service similar to Google. I ask her to clarify this issue. If that is the case, it is absolutely unacceptable, particularly given that she has a remit covering the Irish language and the Gaeltacht.

To return to the issue of Henrietta Street, is the government so far removed from the reality of daily life for thousands of ordinary people in Ireland that it thinks we need or want a tenement project so we can see and learn about bad housing? We have thousands of families made up of women and young children, and thousands more single men and women who are on public housing lists the length and breadth of this country. We also have a chronic homelessness issue that official Ireland disgracefully turns its back on and ignores. We have a state and a political elite that have consciously and deliberately not invested in any substantial public housing projects in recent years. In this context, the Henrietta Street project can only be classed as an abject display of official ignorance and indifference to the meaning and values of 1916 for contemporary Irish society.

The elephant in the room is the Government’s failure, or refusal - however one wants to describe it - to save and preserve Moore Street and the historic quarter - or the lanes of history, as Enda Kenny referred to them - for this and future generations of Irish people. We should not forget that it was as a result of corruption and wheeling and dealing among Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael and the Labour Party that the country's most significant historical site in the context of the 1916 Rising and the foundation of the State will shortly be turned into a parking lot and shopping arcade.