Noel Harrington (Cork South West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the witnesses to the committee. The impact of each of the associations on the social and economic life of the country cannot be underestimated. The sporting personalities, the heroes, who are part of the associations and the union, have far more credibility than anybody in this room. In terms of public perception, people adore them, they follow them, they spend money to watch them and they are important personalities in the life of the country, as are the associations. I read an article last week which indicated that, per capita, Ireland has more arena seats than any other country, bar Iceland as its population is less than 500,000. That is the reality. Sport is a huge phenomenon in Ireland and we tend to punch above our weight. In that respect I take the point about unintended consequences of decisions taken.

However, I also want to touch on some of the issues where advertisers in a diminishing market become very clever in how they get their message across. For example, who would have thought that Arthur's Day would almost have become a national holiday? One cannot have a birthday party unless it is a Carlsberg party or better than the Carlsberg people can do it. This is becoming a part of our lives and it is done subliminally. It is interesting to note how this has happened in a diminishing market. For example, wine consumption is an increasing market and yet I have never heard of any chateauneuf de pape coming in to sponsor anybody. That seems unusual.

At the same time the witnesses speak of a diminishing market and those companies competing among themselves. I submit that three associations are also competing in the market for participants but they have a different dynamic. Those companies get involved to maximise their income. Rather than consider an outright ban or a prohibition on sponsorship, about which I am uncomfortable, is there any proposal by the associations and the union to ratchet up the use of some of their personalities on the message against alcohol misuse? Something like that would have a far greater impact on younger impressionable individuals than the prohibition of alcohol. I do not hear that from some of our greatest personalities in the message against alcohol misuse.
An issue that has not been mentioned is that in the past many of our heroes have fallen victim to alcohol right across the sporting arena. How do the associations and the union use that example to discourage alcohol misuse within the organisations? An issue arises where for somebody who retires from the games there is a vacuum and regrettably that vacuum is easily filled in an inappropriate manner. As many have rehabilitated and gone through the wringer and have come out the other side, their messages would be very valuable to younger people.