Mark Daly (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Political reform? Absolutely.

Rural Ireland has been abandoned by the Government. Some 20 general practitioner, GP, posts have remained vacant for more than three years. According to the Irish Medical Organisation, IMO, 20% of GP posts will be vacant within five years. The Government has no plan to fill those posts. The epitome of the Government's abandonment of rural Ireland can be found in its initial response to Mr. Pat Spillane's report on the matter. I refer to the fact that it allocated the same amount of money to fulfilling the report's objectives as it gave to the care of horses in urban Ireland. Imagine that. I reiterate, for the benefit of Members opposite, that the initial response of the Government to saving rural Ireland was to allocate the same amount of money to fulfilling the objectives in Mr. Spillane's report as it gave to the care of horses in urban areas. If anyone wants more proof than this, please give me a call.According to the UN Human Development Index, Ireland is currently ranked the seventh best place in the world in which to live, which ranking is equal to that of Germany and above that of Canada and the United States. This is a matter of which everybody should be proud. It is the achievement of generations since the establishment of the first Dáil 98 years ago. Today, we celebrate the first meeting of Dáil Éireann on 21 January 1919. Dáil Éireann was established on the principles of the 1916 Proclamation. In essence, we are all guardians of the values of the 1916 Proclamation. Its aims and objectives are timeless and universal. It should be remembered that what we will be celebrating this year is that which others sought to achieve in 1916. It is not about those against whom we struggled to achieve our full potential as a nation. Pádraig Pearse and his fellow signatories to the Proclamation sought to set out ideals and principles to guide us when faced with problems that they could not even imagine. As we celebrate all those involved, we should remember the words of John F. Kennedy when he said: "A nation reveals itself not only by the men it produces but the men it honors, the men it remembers." I hope that our celebrations this year of 1916 will honour the men and women of our greatest generation. We must never stop trying to achieve the standards they set us regardless of how difficult the challenges.

My colleagues on this side of the House and I propose to bring the National Anthem Protection Bill 2016 before the House next week. The Minister for Finance, Deputy Noonan, has said that he proposes to bring forth legislation to protect the national anthem, in respect of which copyright ran out in 2012. I note opposite an Olympian who stood for the national anthem following his great achievement on the international stage, which brought great pride to this country. The national anthem for which he stood needs to be protected.