Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Thursday, 15 June 2023

Public Accounts Committee

Financial Statements 2021 - Sport Ireland and Sport Ireland Facilities DAC

9:30 am

Dr. Una May:

It is important to acknowledge that this facility is not just for track cycling. We do not have a velodrome in Ireland at the moment. In order to have a community who take part in an activity, it is necessary to have a facility, and there is no velodrome in the entirety of Ireland, north or south of the Border. We do have a very successful high-performance programme, which has reaped many medals for us at an international and an Olympic level. Our athletes have to train overseas. We have reviewed business models for the velodrome and its usage and we anticipate significant usage not just within the existing cycling community but within a lot of others. Mr. Murray might want to contribute on that. We have visited other velodromes and looked at their business models.