Mr. Philip Browne:

Deputy Ellis has raised a few interesting points. My understanding of the proposal put forward by the Minister of State, Deputy White, is that it is not only a ban on alcohol sponsorship of major events but a ban on alcohol sponsorship which would be similar to the Loi Évin in France, which is a total outright ban on the sponsorship by alcohol companies of sporting events from top to bottom throughout the system.

The Deputy has raised some valid points around where this proposal would lead us. Obesity is a major issue and there is the issue of the advertising of soft drinks, products with a high level of sugar and fats and all the rest of it. I cannot answer that question. The Department of Heath may well be able to do so and it may be better for the HSE to tell us in what direction it wants to go.

As to where this would lead in terms of local clubs, one would be mistaken to think that a ban on alcohol sponsorship of major events alone would not have any consequences for clubs. We spend about €9.5 million on what we call domestic rugby which is effectively amateur club rugby and schools rugby. Part of that €9.5 million comes from the Government, for which we are grateful, and for every €1 the Government puts in, we put in nearly €3. We get about €2.75 million from the Government, for which we are very grateful, and we spend more than €9 million on domestic rugby. The reality is that our ability to spend money at club level will be dissipated if we do not have the income from alcohol sponsorship to put into our general pot of income along with the income from television and other sponsorships. That is a significant issue.

Another issue is that clubs have their own arrangements. They have their own perimeter boards and arrangements with local sponsors and with bars, some of which provide changing facilities for clubs. This goes right down to grassroots sport and we need to be very careful that we do not unravel something which is very good and positive for the health of the nation and turn it into a disaster.

The Deputy mentioned a number of possible side effects from the imposition of such a ban. A number of dividends flow from sport. We already spoke about one, namely, the health dividend. The Report of the National Taskforce on Obesity stated that the direct and indirect cost of obesity to this country is €4 billion. Who has the cohort of the population within their control where it is possible to manage to do something to help those people, particularly in their formative years, to understand what constitutes a healthy lifestyle? The answer to that question is sport and the major sporting organisations which deliver sport and education in healthy outdoor activity. We need to be very careful here. We have something on the one hand which we are potentially risking, which is the input of sport in terms of doing something positive to tackle the problem of obesity. Are we are going to upset that against a perceived risk around sponsorship by alcohol companies which, if removed, would have some amazing impact on abuse of alcohol? The answer is it probably would not have such an impact. What we would do is risk something much greater, namely, the input of sport in terms of promoting the health of the nation and addressing the problem of obesity.

There are other dividends, the detail of which I do not want to go into. There is the economic dividend in terms of employment, which the Deputy mentioned. Much greater would be the economic loss if sport was not competitive. I refer particularly to our sport, much of which comprises cross-border competitions. We bring huge amounts of money into the economy through international events. A Six Nations match generates about €50 million in economic terms for the city of Dublin and the greater Leinster area, and the economic impact of it extends far beyond Dublin. That is the economic benefit of only one match. The same applies to soccer, hurling and football. We need to be very careful that we do not unravel something which is very good.

The Deputy also mentioned the social impact of sport. Sport, particularly team sports, deliver a number of benefits, namely, education and experience for children in interacting with other people in a responsible fashion, understanding how to deal with winning and losing and understanding their self-awareness and social responsibility. We do not want to lose any of that. We need to be very careful that we understand the consequences of decisions that we take.