Mr. Roddy Guiney:

I am sorry to cut across the question but, first, we could look at some simpler things to fix. As somebody who has recently joined the federation it strikes me that if we were building a new stadium we would hire people with expert knowledge such as architects, quantity surveyors and builders. One of the things that could be done in sport - Mr. Adams referred to it also - is that while Sport Ireland does a terrific job - Mr. Treacy alluded to as well - and there is a depth of knowledge within all the national governing bodies, NGBs, yet when it comes to the allocation of sports capital funding and other grants the NGBs are not asked for their expert opinion and there is nobody better positioned in this country than they, in concert with Sport Ireland, to have a view on where money would be best spent.

A second issue that frustrates the NGBs came out this morning when we had a session with the Minister. It is that it would not take an awful lot of investment to improve the situation. The Taoiseach talked about doubling the funding for sport over the next six years. Mr. Adams made a point which I reiterate that very small additional moneys provided to the NGBs would make a huge difference. As he said today, if Rowing Ireland could get an extra 10% - he can correct me if I am wrong – it could double the participation and if it could get an extra 15% it could triple the level of participation. As a group I do not think we are asking for an awful lot. We do have a lot of knowledge within the collective and it should be brought to bear more on what happens in sport generally. I will get off my soapbox but one of the things about the sports capital funding that comes up again and again with our members is that they are not asked for their opinion.

I will give an example of a very simple thing. One of the NGBs said to me this morning that a club got a grant of €70,000 in the previous round of sports capital funding, and it is not in good standing with its NGB. The NGBs are being asked for more and more inputs, rightly so for sport, on things like Garda vetting, health and safety, child protection and data protection. It would be a very simple ask to put into the sports capital application form a question on whether the club is in good standing with its NGB, and by that we mean whether it is observing all of its policies. Clubs could be forced to get a letter from the NGB confirming that was the case. A lot of small things could be done and the group of people we represent would be delighted if they were done. It would be a start and it would look like people are taking us more seriously.