Ivana Bacik (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I commend RTE, Dublin City Council and all those involved in organising the excellent RTE Road to the Rising event held last week on Easter Monday. It is estimated that approximately 100,000 people turned out in the city centre of Dublin to take part in this commemoration of the social and historical context to the period leading up to the Rising. It was a most innovative idea to commemorate 1915, the year before the big centenary commemoration next year. The numbers who turned out and the success of the event show the great public appetite for this sort of commemoration, which emphasises the social and historical aspects and the political context rather than focusing exclusively on the military side. The military aspect was illustrated by actors on the streets in the uniforms of British soldiers, who would have been on the streets of Dublin in 1915.

We might usefully have another debate in this House in due course on the centenary events for next year and the idea of commemorations more generally. We have had such debates in this House before but, in light of the immense success of the very innovative and novel event last week and the publication the week before Easter of the Government's programme for commemoration, it would be timely to have another on this matter. I welcomed in this House, as did others, the allocation of funding to preserve the building on Moore Street, which is of such historical significance, because it is where the leaders of the Rising met. There are further proposals on the table for buildings on Moore Street. I would like to include that in any debate we have in this House on commemoration.

I ask the Leader for a debate on sentencing and criminal justice, particularly in light of the publication today by the Minister for Justice and Equality, Deputy Frances Fitzgerald, of the general scheme of the criminal justice (burglary of dwellings) Bill. This Bill is being published in the context of great concern about repeat offenders engaging in multiple burglaries, including while on bail. The Joint Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality is likely to engage in pre-legislative scrutiny of the Bill. The substance of the Bill highlights other issues, including more general issues concerning sentencing, bail and the management of the criminal justice system. I ask the Leader for a debate on that more general issue.

In the context of the marriage equality referendum, like many colleagues I was out canvassing on the "Yes" side over the break and got a very positive response. I am very glad the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, Deputy Brendan Howlin, has today clarified that there is absolutely no issue in terms of school funding. The "No" side has been scaremongering somewhat about this. There is absolutely no danger to funding for schools that hold an ethical position that is against the idea of marriage equality for same-sex couples. I am glad that issue has been clarified and hope we will see red herrings like this and the conscientious objection clause being dealt with in the course of the debate.