Ciarán Cannon (Galway East, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister and the Minister of State as well as their departmental colleagues for joining us this afternoon. I simply want to thank them both and their colleagues for the powerfully impactful work they have done in their time in these roles. It has been a tumultuous time in Irish media. They navigated that with exceptional skill and deep consideration for the importance of public sector broadcasting and public sector media generally. Now, at the end of that tumultuous time we find ourselves in a much better place.

In regard to investment in sport, as the Minister of State outlined, we are seeing unprecedented investment in communities in the health and well-being of our young people in particular, instilling in them the importance very early on in life of participation in every kind of sport. In particular for women and girls in sport, where in the past we have seen a significant drop-off in participation in their late teenage years, the investments that have been made in most recent times are working to address that in a very real and effective manner. This week we saw a significant allocation of funds to Kinvara Hockey Club which is setting out to provide a world-class hockey and multisport facility in a small village in south Galway that will serve south Connacht and north Clare well for the future. We grossly underestimate at times the power of the sports capital investments that we make to leverage extraordinary community endeavour and community connectedness. Kinvara is a perfect example of that.

In terms of our sporting investment for the future, I am wondering where our national velodrome is at. Significant commitments have been made and there is planning permission. I thank the Ministers for the additional investment being made in potentially developing a new velodrome in Limerick on the western side of the country. I was fortunate to visit New Zealand about six or seven years ago in my role as Minister of State for the diaspora. I visited two different velodromes there. The New Zealand Government and indeed the New Zealand nation as a whole have proven conclusively that when facilities of that nature are provided it encourages and supports young people in getting involved in sport, and in particular in cycling, at a very young age. As well as producing Olympic medal winners, it helps to develop that lifelong love of sporting participation, which is so important for people's health and well-being. I thank both of the Ministers and their colleagues. I wish them every success in the upcoming election. It is going to be a difficult time for anybody out there putting their head above the parapet. Well done and thank you.