John O'Donoghue (Kerry South, Fianna Fail)

I propose to take Questions Nos. 8 and 28 together.

I recently met with David Hanson MP, Northern Ireland's Minister for Culture, Arts and Leisure for discussions on a number of sports issues, including the opportunities arising from London hosting the 2012 Summer Olympic Games and Paralympic Games.

The selection of London last July as the host city for the 2012 games offers Ireland an unprecedented opportunity for business, tourism and sport. Minister Hanson and I agreed there were tremendous opportunities for both Northern Ireland and the Republic to benefit from the games. The existing close working relationships which exist, both at departmental and sports council levels, will provide a solid basis upon which to maximise the opportunities ahead.

Undoubtedly many of the participating countries will be seeking to locate their competing athletes for pre-tournament training in places in close proximity to the United Kingdom and I have been advised by the President of the Olympic Council of Ireland that a number of countries have already inquired about the possibility of using Ireland as a base in the lead up to the London games. The attraction of Ireland to overseas teams participating in the games for acclimatisation and preparation purposes is an area on which the Irish Sports Council and the Sports Council for Northern Ireland could co-operate.

Since 1997, the Government has invested in excess of €700 million in Irish sport. Of this amount, approximately €500 million has been spent on the development of sporting facilities at a national, regional and local level. A significant proportion of this investment has gone towards developing a network of top class facilities around the country designed to meet the training, coaching and competition needs of our elite competitors in a wide spectrum of sports.

Among the major projects which have been supported are the Croke Park stadium, the National Aquatic Centre, the National Rowing Centre at Inniscarra, the national tennis centre, the National Boxing Stadium, the National Hockey Stadium at UCD and the National Coaching and Training Centre at the University of Limerick, which complements the wide range of top quality facilities provided at the university many of which have been used by international sportspersons. In addition, the early delivery of a sports campus at Abbotstown, which is being considered by the Government for funding in the context of the multiannual capital investment framework for 2006-10, would be a key element to Ireland's capacity to attract competing athletes to locate here.

With an estimated 1 million additional visitors to Athens for the 2004 Olympics, Ireland will be hoping to attract substantial additional visitors around the 2012 games with significant benefits for the tourism industry. Both Tourism Ireland and Fáilte Ireland will be considering how best to tap into the potential tourism spin-off from the Olympic Games in London in 2012. Ease of access to London from an increasing number of airports on the island will be an important factor in exploiting the tourism dimension of the games.

The successful hosting of the Special Olympics World Summer Games in 2003 greatly enhanced Ireland's reputation and credibility on the world stage as a safe and welcoming destination. This very positive experience is one on which we can very usefully build in planning how we might optimise the tourism opportunities of the Olympic Games in 2012. To give added impetus to the drive to capitalise on the sporting and tourism opportunities of the London Olympic Games, I intend to establish an interagency group to support the work of the agencies already working in this area.

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