Marc MacSharry (Sligo-Leitrim, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I agree very much with Senator O’Mahony. I would love to see the committee take a position. This clearly has gone on for a long time and is likely to go on for a considerable period more with the various reports. I think our primary concern in the Oireachtas is the programmes, the people delivering them and the children. As of today - I am conscious we were all celebrating a good performance of Ireland last week - we are the only country in the world not supporting soccer in any way financially at this time. I think that it would be worth discussing and that the committee would develop a position that the funding could be made available, be it week-to-week, month-to-month, quarter-to-quarter, with additional oversight, if necessary from this committee or, if not, by Sport Ireland or whomever satisfies the Minister. The important thing is that we get this money back supporting the programmes that are there, without prejudice to all the other matters that have to be dealt with. Clearly there is a process afoot that is going to take a lot longer than these programmes will survive.