Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I had thought participation in sport was increasing. I know a sports monitor is produced every year and at least for a while it had been increasing by approximately 1% a year, but perhaps young people drop off from it as they hit teenage years, which is definitely a big problem particularly among girls who have relatively high participation rates when they are young but in their teenage years very often drop out of sport. This is part of what the whole women in sport participation programme is about.

On overseas development aid, I think the UK only brought in legislation after it had met the target. I could be wrong about this, but I think I am correct in saying it met the target and then brought in legislation to make sure it did not fall below it. I am reluctant to bring in legislation that would require meeting a target. We would be tying our hands on budgetary decisions and it would have a precedent effect. I imagine there are other areas of spending where people would also like the same. Then it would be a case of what we leave out and what is so unimportant that it does not deserve similar legislation. That would be difficult to do.

I absolutely agree with the point on capacity building. I have had some experience as I had a short placement with Voluntary Service Overseas, VSO, in Mongolia a couple of years ago. So much of what can be best achieved when it comes to development is not the traditional aid and humanitarian relief, which is necessary, but capacity building. I know that particular organisation took the view that the best thing that could be done is not send young people off in their gap year to spend a year in Africa, Asia or a poor part of a country but send somebody who has 30 years experience as a teacher or in running a business. The best people to be sent overseas to add and build capacity in developing countries are those who have a life of experience and not those who are just out of college. I am sure there is room for both but that makes sense, as does having people stay for a prolonged period and not just short visits.

On Deputy Naughton's question on scrutiny, I admit that I do not think it is committees that are holding up legislation. I may be wrong about that because line Ministers are dealing with legislation every day rather than me. If there are delays in legislation, it is more on the Government side, namely, between Departments and the Office of the Attorney General and the Office of the Parliamentary Counsel. We have been a bit slow to get legislation drafted. It seems to take a long time to get heads written up even though they are very simple and it then takes a long time again between heads and the publication of a Bill. I have asked the Secretary General to examine whether there are ways to speed up the process given the significant delays in getting legislation to the point where it is published as a Bill. It frustrates many of us.