I wrote to the Taoiseach on 15 November to express my concern that the Government had decided not to purchase the final letter of surrender by Pádraig Mac Piarais at the end of the Easter Rising. The Taoiseach wrote back to advise that the Minister would contact me directly. The Minister's private secretary wrote to advise that she would be in touch as soon as possible. I am still waiting.

The letter is due to be auctioned, I think, tomorrow or by the end of the week. It was Pearse's letter of instruction to the Four Courts garrison. It is particularly bizarre that in the centenary of the 1916 Rising that the Government would pass up the opportunity to acquire a document of such historic import and significance for the nation.

I know that funds are limited, but I strongly urge the Taoiseach to reconsider this decision and to seek out possible mechanisms to fund the acquisition of the letter by and for the State, including utilising any remaining funding for the centenary celebrations or other funding carried forward in the Department. In many ways this is a metaphor for official Ireland's attitude to the men and women of 1916.

It is not the intention to buy it. The Government has put forward very substantial moneys for the improvement of the mezzanine interpretive centre in the GPO, another €5 million for Kilmainham courthouse and another €5 million for the development of the military archives, the purchase of Nos. 14 to 17 Moore Street and many other issues in respect of 1916.

This is an important letter, but the estimated cost is very high. All the issues surrounding the 1916 centenary commemorations have been accepted and participated in by hundreds of thousands of people throughout the country. This letter has been in private ownership for some time and is now offered for sale, but it is not the intention of the Minister to purchase it.