Brendan Ryan (Dublin Fingal, Labour)
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47. To ask the Taoiseach and Minister for Defence the number of official events the Defence Forces have taken part in during 2016 in commemoration of 1916; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [27140/16]

Paul Kehoe (Wexford, Fine Gael)
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Whilst responsibility for the Decade of Centenaries Programme rests with my colleague the Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht, both my Department and the Defence Forces have played a significant role in the State commemoration ceremonies to date. There were a total of 58 scheduled State Ceremonial events for the centenary year (01 Aug 2015 – 01 Aug 2016). The Defence Forces took part in all of these. In addition , the Defence Forces have provided support to the 31 Local Authorities through the provision of flag raising parties to each Local Authority.

The Defence Force participated in a comprehensive programme of events relating to the National Flag and has visited circa 3,200 national schools, where they delivered a flag and a copy of the 1916 proclamation from (14 Sep 2015 – 15 Mar 2016).

The Defence Forces continue to conduct a daily flag raising ceremony on the central median across from the GPO in Dublin, and this daily ceremony will continue until 31 Dec ember 2016.

Overall, it is clear that my Department and the Defence Forces have played a very central and important role in the many historic Commemoration events that have taken place in this centenary year so far.