On 23 April 2014, the eve of the 98th anniversary of the 1916 Rising, the Government announced that, through NAMA, it would invest €5 million in refurbishing and restoring the section of Moore Street which had been designated as a national monument, that is, Nos. 14 to 17 Moore Street. This was re-announced five months later by the Minister for Arts and Heritage and the Gaeltacht, Deputy Heather Humphreys. She announced further funding to develop a commemorative centre on this last outpost or GHQ of the Army of the Irish Republic in 1916, the place where they treated with the British for surrender.

The Minister, Deputy White, is also aware, I presume, that in six short months we will have the 100th anniversary of this seminal period of Irish history. The families of those who led and took part in the Rising have sought for this Government and the previous Government to take the required steps not only to secure 14 to 17 Moore Street but to protect the entire battlefield site and to faithfully restore it as fitting tribute to those who raised the flag of the Irish Republic 100 years ago.

Given that the loan portfolio called Project Jewel, owned by the developer Joe O'Reilly of Chartered Lands, is being sold as we speak by NAMA and includes the area identified as that battlefield site, will the Government instruct the Minister for Finance, Deputy Noonan, to issue an instruction to the NAMA board, as he has done on several occasions before on other issues, to the effect that NAMA must ensure that the site as identified is protected?

Does the Minister believe that the whole area, from the GPO to Parnell Square, including Moore Street, should be recognised as a 1916 revolutionary quarter and, as such, be marked and designated a national monument?

Further, how is it in the interests of the people - whose interests NAMA is supposed to protect, and whom the Government is supposed to serve - to dispose of the entire site in the manner that NAMA intends - that is, to the highest bidder? Let us remember that the National Museum has identified this site as the most important historical site in modern Irish history.

Under what terms has the designated national monument at 14 to 17 Moore Street been transferred to the State? Has it been valued and, if so, by whom? Can the Government commit to stating, even at this stage, when that work will begin on the site, if it begins at all?

As the Deputy acknowledged at the outset, announcements have been made in respect of the restoration of those important buildings on Moore Street. I think the announcements that the Minister, Deputy Humphreys, and the Government have made will do justice to the historical importance of the buildings and the site for the people of Dublin and Ireland. That is the way we should proceed in respect of our entire approach to the commemorations of 1916.

The Deputy raised the matter, and I believe it behoves all of us, those in his party included, to seek to ensure, as far as we possibly can, that we have a united and collective approach to the celebration and commemoration of this seminal event of 1916. We should work as best we can together, whether as politicians across the House or more generally in the community, to do what is fitting and right next year in respect of 1916. I believe the Government's programme of events is fitting. There may have been some controversy or different views on the emphases proposed at the outset. Anyway, I believe that what has been done by the Government has been broadly recognised by historians and others as fairly representing a fitting and proper commemoration of the 1916 Rising. I call on those in Sinn Féin to support the approach taken by the Government and a cross-party approach in this House as well as a collective approach generally in the community to the commemoration of that event.

It seems to me that there is nothing to be gained from a fragmented approach to this important event, and we should work together as best we can to achieve something that is right and proper. The announcement made by the Minister on the restoration of Moore Street was very welcome and should be supported.

As to the involvement of NAMA, I am not completely clear on what the Deputy is proposing. He knows NAMA has a very specific remit under legislation in respect of what it is required to do and that it makes decisions in accordance with the remit it has on the basis of the loans and so on with which it is dealing. It would not be appropriate for us to see this as an occasion for instruction by the Minister to NAMA in respect of particular properties. We can do a huge amount in Dublin and throughout the country to celebrate and commemorate 1916, and I do not think NAMA will manage that. Rather, it will be done by the Government, the Oireachtas and the people.

NAMA can take instruction from the Minister for Finance, as it has done on 15 separate occasions since September 2009. I ask on this occasion that the Government, which includes the Minister, ask him to issue the required instruction to ensure the portion of Moore Street not currently designated as a national monument be designated and protected as such.

The Minister said it should be a fitting tribute next year. I do not see how sending in the bulldozers to Moore Street would be seen in any way as a fitting tribute. It might be appropriate from the historical viewpoint of some people in this country, but I have worked since 2006 on the decade of commemorations committee, and the one before it. I have helped it and given it ideas which have been taken on board by the Government. I have attended many meetings. There is no separation from a Sinn Féin or Government programme, and they should not be competing. Rather, they should be complementary. We have always said that and worked based on that view.

Having said that, it does not seem that the Minister or his Department is working to help and complement programmes developed by political parties. Today in The Irish Times it is stated that the Minister, or perhaps his Department, is refusing to give permission for an event in O'Connell Street which would involve a projection of sounds and images onto the portico of the GPO. That is politicisation of the events of 1916 without having any knowledge of the content or anything else. If that instruction came from the Minister, it would have been very helpful if he had, first and foremost, replied to the letter which was sent to him seeking permission rather than he or somebody from his Department running to the journalist, Fiach Kelly. There has been no correspondence to date to indicate to us that the Minister is refusing that permission. If he is not, perhaps he might want to take the project on board. Is it the case that there is jealousy among some about some of the imaginative ideas Sinn Féin has come up with to try to highlight and pay fitting tribute to the men and women of 1916?

The Deputy makes things up as he goes along. I do not know whether it is to fill time or what it is.

Like the Minister and housing.

He knows perfectly well that I have absolutely no responsibility in respect of granting permission for whatever it is he says his party is looking for regarding the GPO. I have not been asked to do so-----

The Minister has responsibility.

-----because the person in his party, unlike the Deputy, presumably understands that the Minister does not make this decision.

The Minister was probably against the Rising.

It is a matter for An Post, and everybody in this House knows that.

Who is the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources?

The Deputy can play politics with it if he wants to. It is a pity that Sinn Féin, having said it is not playing party politics with an issue like this, then comes to the House and accuses somebody else of politicising the issue.

I did not bring it in.

The fact is that any decisions on the use of the GPO are entirely and exclusively a matter for An Post, and the Deputy has been around here long enough to know that perfectly well.

The Minister is bluffing.

That leads me to the conclusion that he is doing nothing other than seeking to politicise this issue.

He might as well get out of his job.

He should not do that, and he is giving a lie to his own statement that he wants to seek a co-operative approach and so on by parties across the board. If there is an issue regarding An Post, he should take it to that company. It is a pity to hear the Deputy's attitude. The parties here should and can work together to ensure we have, as I said, a fitting and proper commemoration of 1916. We should do that in part on the streets of Dublin, including O'Connell Street, the GPO and the other important buildings in Moore Street he mentioned. We can do that together successfully but not through the sort of nonsense and posturing we have just heard.