Shane Cassells (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the launch of a scholarship pilot scheme yesterday by former and Irish international footballers James McClean, Gavin Bazunu, Seamus Coleman, Kevin Long and Enda Stevens. On foot of funding they raised, €30,000 will be provided for a scholarship pilot scheme that will provide two bursaries to enable one 17-year-old boy and one 17-year-old girl to train full time with their League of Ireland club while completing their leaving certificate. More importantly, I back the cause of James McClean, who, as part of this launch at FAI headquarters yesterday, called for Government funding to see this scheme widened in order that many more young boys and girls will get this opportunity as well - not just in this sport but across the board. In backing that scheme, I call for an increase of 1% in the betting tax, which has been called for by the FAI and many other sporting organisations. That funding could be used and funnelled into sports that go beyond horse racing and greyhound racing, namely, soccer, Gaelic games, rugby and the many minority sports that need funding.

Sport had been underfunded for decades until last year, when the Minister of State, Deputy Jack Chambers, quadrupled the amount of funding for sports capital, bringing it up to €150 million. We see from the broad range of applications we have this year that it is set to exceed that again. We need funding to be driven into sport. We will get the best derivative out of it at a very local level. I back James McClean yesterday in calling for these kinds of bursaries to be funded by Government but, more importantly, to raise the betting tax. I cannot understand for the life of me why we have not grasped this. We can raise the betting tax and drive that money into where funding is really needed in sport.