Martin Mansergh (Tipperary South, Fianna Fail)
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Question 518: To ask the Minister for Defence his views on authorising the release of pension application files by those who participated in the Easter Rising and War of Independence, in view of the historical value of these papers and the fact that practically all the applicants have at this stage passed on. [5206/08]

Willie O'Dea (Limerick East, Fianna Fail)
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An Taoiseach, Mr. Bertie Ahern, T.D., announced in the context of the 90th Anniversary celebrations of 1916 that the Government had decided to make the Military Pension Archive, covering the 1916 Rising and the War of Independence, available to historians and to the public. It is the intention of the Government that the records will be made available in good time for the 100th anniversary of the 1916 Rising in 2016.

An Interdepartmental Working Group chaired by the Department of An Taoiseach was established in 2006 to progress this matter. My Department and the Defence Forces are represented on this Committee along with representatives of Department of Arts, Sports and Tourism, the OPW and the National Archive. This is a major project and considerable preparatory work has already been completed. In addition, my Department is in the process of recruiting professional archivists who will be dedicated to this project under the guidance of the inter-departmental Committee.