Eamonn Coghlan (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the ladies and gentlemen. I have been around the scene with all of them for many years, as Mr. Benton and I go back to Drimnagh Castle and Mr. Treacy and I competed on the track. I was a member of the board of the Irish Sports Council some years ago and Mr. Conway is the new kid on the block with regard to the National Sports Campus Development Authority. I was in Abbotstown a couple of weeks ago for the opening of the pitches, and as a former sports person, I was really excited about what is happening up there. I hope we will not have to wait many more years for the indoor facilities for the other multi-purpose sports to be installed.

The presentations indicate this is a big step forward for Irish sport and a good news story. The great work done with the campus development authority in Abbotstown must be highly commended. Mr. Barry O'Brien held a position there. There is also ongoing work at Santry stadium. The Irish Sports Council was established in 1999 and I have seen a phenomenal transformation in sport in Ireland in that time. The national governing bodies must step up to the plate now as they have been given the opportunity to look after their own high performance planning and development. The athletes are being well looked after financially when they meet the criteria, and they are well looked after medically. Taken with the work of the Institute of Irish Sport, there has been a fantastic transformation in Irish sport, and I say "well done" to everyone here on that.

As Mr. Benton indicated, this is not just about the sports campus in Abbotstown or Santry stadium but rather Ireland as a whole. Is there any opportunity for minority sports in Ireland which may not have facilities or funding to provide them? Other major sports such as Gaelic football get funding from the Exchequer, and there will be a presentation in that regard next week. Is there an opportunity for the new authority to meet personnel from the GAA and ask about opening its facilities in Ireland for local communities? We speak about healthy living and increasing participation but many towns and villages in Ireland do not have facilities. There are GAA facilities in most areas so this could be an ideal opportunity for the new body to consider such a plan rather than focusing on Abbotstown or Santry.

Mr. Treacy referred to education and we hear much about physical education in schools. Is there an opportunity for sport Ireland to consider how to empower the implementation of physical education in schools under the new umbrella? These are some issues but I wish everyone the best of luck. This will be a big statement for Ireland and perhaps it will provide an opportunity to give sport a bigger voice in getting funding from the Exchequer.