Mr. Kieran Mulvey:

The primary value of the amalgamation will be the strategic value of having both bodies working as one unit, in the sense that we will be in a better position to plan for sports and to identify the strengths and weaknesses within the infrastructure of sport. In terms of deciding priorities within sport, we will be able to determine what is necessary and where. We will bring on the facilities that are needed regionally, not just nationally. It will also send the message of bringing together more sporting activities where they can share facilities. As part of a new body, there will be a requirement for a new master plan for sport. This will allow us to undertake new thinking and to consider what other countries of similar size and levels of international activity are able to bring to the questions of how to fund and provide for sport in future. I have recently become interested in developments in New Zealand, a country to which we always look. Perhaps that is because it is an island with a similar population. How it is moving forward in terms of-----