Peter Mathews (Dublin South, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Under the education and skills heading, reference is made to works under way on buildings at St. Patrick's College and UCD. Another issue arises in respect of third level campuses. Capital expenditure in third level campuses is not confined to lecture theatres, laboratories and so forth. It should include facilities such as running tracks. UCD, for instance, had to move its running track from the Belfield side of the N11, which is part of the campus, onto the Clonskeagh end where the nexus of sports facilities is located. It was not possible to resurface the old track, as required for health and safety reasons, and it had to be relocated to the other side of the campus. This cost remained outside the most recent sports grants. This facility should be regarded as a priority on a campus of 24,000 students. A certain level of sports facilities must be available if a campus is to attract postgraduate research and so forth and an athletics track is a sine qua non in this respect. I encourage those responsible to ensure the cost of the athletics track is taken under the umbrella of education and skills grants.