Jack Wall (Kildare South, Labour)

This centre is of major significance to the development of sport. At the time my colleague, Deputy O'Shea, was anxious to ensure that a centre of excellence would be created at Abbotstown. I am perplexed that we do not appear to have made the progress I thought we would make in this regard. While the Minister is in a position to present the proposals to Government, the issue has been on the legislative list since 2003. A later question refers to our Olympic performances and so on, but if we do not have this centre of excellence, we will not develop into a nation that can make an impact at Olympic level. The Minister referred to rugby, soccer and Gaelic games, which are not Olympic sports. Is it proposed that the centre of excellence will cover a wide range of sport which will be reflected in better performances in future at Olympic level?

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