Michael Ring (Mayo, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

In the context of what Senator Eamonn Coghlan said in respect of dual careers, we are hoping to encourage co-operation between member states. We are also hoping to encourage them to enter dialogue with their educational institutions. The Senator was one of our top athletes for many years. He is quite correct in that he was obliged to strike a balance between his running and his education, particularly as he was not going to remain an elite athlete forever. The time for him to retire from athletics was always going to arrive and he needed to have another career. We are asking member states to enter discussions with their universities and encourage them to put in place courses which would provide athletes with an opportunity to train and compete and, simultaneously, allow them to pursue educational goals. What we are seeking is flexibility. We are hoping this will be forthcoming, particularly in the context of the universities. We will also be asking the sporting organisations to support athletes and assist them in obtaining an education.

Let us consider the position of the young people who leave these shores each year to pursue careers in professional soccer in Britain. How many of them actually make it? They leave believing they will be the next Roy Keane and many of them return disillusioned. It used to be the case that they would leave at 16, 17 or 18 years of age. They would spend a few years at a club and if they did not make it, they would return. Many of them were not educated and found it difficult to get into the workplace. We are asking educational institutions to make these types of courses available to athletes and other sports people to assist them in pursuing their goals. There is life after sport and it is not everyone who makes it. Senator Eamonn Coghlan did not do too badly during his sporting career and fair play to him. I am joking, of course, when I say that. However, I reiterate that not everyone makes it and there is a problem in the context of those who have no place to go when their sporting careers end. Those who make it do fine, but those who do not encounter problems.

The Senator also referred to drugs in sport. I have been very strong on this matter in Europe. I reiterate my belief that anyone, regardless of his or her sport, who uses performance-enhancing drugs is a cheat. We are trying to get governments involved at European level. I understand that the organisers of some of the major marathons insist on athletes signing a document whereby if they are caught doping at a later stage, they will be obliged to return whatever prize money they may make in those marathons. Lance Armstrong admitted that he had cheated, but he acquired vast sums of money which he still retains. That is wrong because it means that cheaters are being supported. Some of these individuals, through cheating, have enough money to maintain their lifestyles for the remainder of their years. Stronger sanctions must be introduced.

As the Senator is aware, each country in Europe deals with its own sporting organisations. We must work together, however, because those involved in doping are adopting ever more sophisticated methods, their drug use is not capable of being detected. We must do more than test for drugs. The new passport whereby athletes can be monitored for many years must be introduced across Europe. Some parts of Europe are extremely well regulated but that is not the position in other countries where there is no regulation at all. As a former international runner, Senator Eamonn Coghlan knows he was competing against individuals who were not subject to the same rigorous testing as him. That is a matter which must be dealt with at European level.