Statues to be unveiled to 1916 signatories

Minister for Defence Willie O'Dea is to unveil statues to each of the seven signatories of the 1916 Proclamation as part of the 90th anniversary commemorations of the Rising.

Mr O'Dea was announcing details of a €22 million budget for capital projects for the Defence Forces this year.

Some €64 million was spent between 2000 and 2005. During the announcement he told the Dáil he would unveil the monuments at the Curragh.

Pat Carey (FF, Dublin North West), who asked if there were any measures to commemorate 1916, said seven barracks at the Curragh were named after the signatories of the 1916 Proclamation.

He welcomed the capital investment "because there was a period in which the Defence Forces had been starved of it".

"While many of the barracks in which members of the Defence Forces were housed were fine architecturally, they were from another era."

The investment includes the upgrading of the NCO (non-commissioned officers) school; accommodation refurbishment at Cathal Brugha barracks, Dublin; and upgrades at Collins barracks in Cork and Sarsfield barracks in Limerick.

Fine Gael's defence spokesman Billy Timmins said "the mental telepathy on the monuments for the signatories of the 1916 Proclamation shows a Government on song and in tune with its backbenchers".

He asked how much of the investment was from the sale of Defence Force properties, and said it would "save the Exchequer several million euro" if available State land at the Curragh was used for new headquarters rather than acquiring expensive land at Newbridge. Mr O'Dea said they "have almost run out of money" from property sales, and the capital now was "money I have managed to wrest away from the Department of Finance".

He said they had gone a "considerable distance" towards purchasing land in Newbridge.

Earlier he told Maire Hoctor (FF, Tipperary North) he expected to have the military authorities' report on the possibility of reducing the minimum height requirement by June 1st.

He said other issues such as bullying and the perception women have of army life were factors when it came to improving female representation.