Pat Carey (Dublin North West, Fianna Fail)

I am glad of this opportunity to speak on the National Sports Campus Development Authority Bill, which is very important for the development of sports in this country. I compliment the Minister, Deputy O'Donoghue, on his campaigning zeal in ensuring that the measure is now before us.

The purpose of the Bill is to provide a statutory basis for the authority, which will oversee the planning and development of a campus of sports facilities at Abbotstown beside my constituency in County Dublin. It is so close that part of my constituency is called Abbotstown. We live cheek by jowl so I look forward to the great benefits to be reaped from this development by my constituency.

In the past, the development of this sports campus has been used as a political football, if I may be allowed to mix my metaphors. Unfortunately, it means that serious damage has been done to the public perception of the project and to the public interest, especially when we consider the great benefits that this sports campus will bring to many people throughout the country, including athletes, players, supporters, trainers and everyone else involved or interested in sport. I hope a certain level of maturity has been reached in this respect so that we can look forward to the development of this campus as a truly magnificent testimony to the national enthusiasm for sport. It is, therefore, timely and beneficial to have this debate and move forward with the project.

To understand the importance of the Bill, we must consider the place of sport in the country's social fabric and its hugely positive influence. Many speakers have rightly taken time to reflect on the relevance of sport to the nation, especially in an international context. It is often said that we are a nation of sports fans but it is also true to say that we are emerging as a nation of sporting stars. One only has to consider the events of last week to see the proof of this. Derval O'Rourke, a young woman from Cork, took gold in the world indoor athletics championships. For the second year running, we had huge successes at Cheltenham — I hope others benefited more than I did — ensuring that Ireland's reputation in international horse racing was reasserted in a most glorious and positive manner. On Saturday, the winning streak was capped by a marvellous performance from the national rugby side against England at Twickenham.

These events were preceded by a renaissance of the GAA, where the organisation, which has been at the heart of our local communities for more than 100 years, has re-emerged and renewed itself during the past ten or 15 years. The redevelopment of Croke Park during this period has provided us with a stadium that will stand up to comparison with any stadium I have ever seen. In the past ten days the Cathaoirleach of the Seanad and I visited Cardiff Arms Park when we attended the opening of the Welsh Assembly building. Croke Park is a fine stadium compared with Cardiff Arms Park. At the same time, the emergence of the Irish soccer team as a competitive international force capable of qualifying and competing in European Championships and World Cups has given us the belief that we can compete internationally and pit our wits, in athletic terms, against anybody in the world.

This affinity with sport does not end in front of our television sets. We are also emerging as a nation of sports participants, whether it is at our local GAA club, in a dance class at our local parish centre or at a newly built local authority gym such as we have in my constituency in Finglas and Ballymun. I thank the Minister for Sports, Arts and Tourism, Deputy O'Donoghue, for his support for both. He had the pleasure of being present at the opening of the new €23 million facility in Finglas approximately one year ago.

We have seen that participation in sport provides us with a unique source of well-being and is an important emotional outlet for people of every age and from every part of the country. It is now widely accepted that the benefits of sport have far-reaching positive consequences for society as a whole. While the emphasis may be slightly different, I believe the impact on Ireland of the Ryder Cup later this year will be similar to that which the Special Olympics had a number of years ago. It is for these reasons that this Government continues to support the development of a vastly improved network of sports facilities within communities across the entire range of sporting activities.

When I was elected to the House in 1997 I heard people complain, as I did myself, about the lack of facilities whereby players had to change in poor facilities and participants had to shelter under bushes to avoid inclement weather conditions. That is changing rapidly. It is hard to believe that when the Government took office in 1997, the total budget for sport was approximately €17 million. The annual sports budget has increased dramatically and by the end of 2005, Government spending on sport since 1997 totalled €740 million. This year, the provision for the development of new sporting infrastructure and supporting sporting programmes is more than €150 million.

The sports capital programme continues to be the primary vehicle through which financial support is provided. It has funded approximately 5,000 sporting facilities at local, regional and national level with a total spend of €400 million. In 2005 alone, the sports capital programme funded 645 projects and awarded grants amounting to €63.239 million.

While some of the focus of this sports funding has been on the development of a range of regional and national multi-sports centres such as the redevelopment Lansdowne Stadium, Croke Park and the National Aquatic Centre, the provision of facilities at local level through clubs and community groups has been hugely beneficial for many communities. When we consider that, in consultation with the Department of Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs, 202 of the grants awarded under the 2005 sports capital programme were for projects located in areas designated as disadvantaged, we can understand the huge effect this funding has on our communities. Some of us represent communities with a relatively high level of disadvantage.

I do not need to look too hard to see the effect that this funding has in my constituency. I have seen large clubs such as Ballymun Kickhams, Ballymun United, Na Fianna GAA, Erin's Isle GAA club, Johnstown Park and Tolka Rovers benefit from these grants. I have also seen how smaller clubs can flourish, thrive and meet the needs of a community on what many would consider to be small grants. Clubs such as Valley Park United and Finglas Kempo Karate are two prime examples of how a small amount of money was able transform a club into a considerable player on the Irish scene. I hope funding through the sports programme continues. I know Finglas Celtic, a successful club, is awaiting the Minister's consideration and I hope that funding will be forthcoming.

Over recent years in the constituency of Dublin North-West, we have also seen the development of a number of local authority owned sports facilities, such as new leisure centres in Ballymun and Finglas, which are hugely beneficial to the communities. Yesterday, I attended a meeting on the increased usage of the Finglas centre because there is not enough room for all the cars driven to and parked there. I suggested some people could walk but we live in a different era. It shows the success of high quality facilities which attract many users.

Following the allocation of an €800,000 grant, new indoor tennis courts have been developed at Albert College Park by Tennis Ireland for use as a national tennis training centre. The new facility is primarily used for training young people. However, the wider community, including local sports clubs and DCU students, also have access to the facility.

What is interesting about funding in constituencies such as Dublin North-West is that it is not just about upping the number of people participating in sport. It is about the added benefits that come with the increase. Together with the obvious physiological benefits, sport has been shown to improve emotional and cognitive skills including self-esteem and problem solving. These improvements can impact directly on behavioural risk factors and, as such, sport may be a useful intervention strategy, especially in reducing the much discussed anti-social behaviour.

Two key aspects of sport and physical activity are that they reduce boredom in youth and decrease the amount of unsupervised leisure time. Preventing and reducing boredom is important owing to the reported links to depression, distraction and loneliness. In addition, there is consensus that if youth lack stimulation and have little to do, they will seek their own, often anti-social, activities. Sport and physical activity programs provide an effective vehicle through which personal and social development, especially in young people, can be positively affected.

I get no great satisfaction from stating that in my constituency during recent months we had an outbreak of anti-social activity culminating in gangland killings, shootings and, unfortunately, quite a number of suicides. Developments such as the network of sports halls throughout the country sponsored by the Departments of Education and Science and Arts, Sport and Tourism and linked to schools will be beneficial. I believe in the importance of sport in the education system. At times it concerns me to see management bodies prepared to sell useful recreational spaces and allow them to be developed for housing and other purposes, important though they are.

To return to the national context of this Bill, a report by the ESRI last year identified the main social and financial aspects and advantages of sport in Ireland. It stated that the economic value of sport is €1.4 billion per annum. In this context, Exchequer support of €740 million for sport over the past seven years can be seen as a very worthwhile investment.

This leads to the conclusion that there is a compelling business case to be made for the development of the sports facility at Abbotstown. The case was always existed but the issue has been subject to a rather crude political debate. Such a campus would increase participation in sport at all levels from the passive amateur to the high-performance athlete. Apart from the beneficial effects on the health of the nation and helping to address many social problems, as previously outlined, the sports campus could generate substantial tourism revenue and significant employment.

Campus Ireland will be a busy and highly productive national sports centre, helping to attract great events to Ireland as well as showcasing the best of Irish sports talent. I am confident that the mix of campus and public amenity around it will make Abbotstown a thriving, vibrant centre all year round. I also welcome the allocation of a site to the St. Francis Hospice organisation to construct a much-needed facility for the area and I compliment the Taoiseach and the Government on agreeing to it.

Furthermore, and particularly in the context of the London Olympics in 2012, the campus will not only generate revenue but will also involve the building of high class, international standard sports training facilities throughout the area. Sporting facilities are set to benefit from the announcement that London will stage the 2012 Olympic Games. In most cases that will mean upgrading and improving what already exists and significant investment if they are to become attractive and viable locations for foreign teams looking to set up training and holding camps before moving on to London. Cyprus, for example, provided several training venues ahead of the Athens Olympics. Maybe it is a little too early to start talking about what facilities might be targeted but the opportunities for presenting training venues to other countries are extensive.

The obvious spin-off from this will be countries seeking to come and set up their pre-games training camps here. While there are many outstanding facilities throughout the country, such as the universities, a facility in Abbotstown would be a great advantage. Such developments will surely contribute to the social and economic regeneration of the surrounding area. l am well aware of the burden being carried by Dublin 15 in general and Abbotstown in particular. Deputy Joe Higgins also understands the burden borne and the challenges facing the Blanchardstown area.

Many have argued that if we proceed with the campus, substantial investment will be needed. At times it will undoubtedly lead to increases in traffic in the area. We have a responsibility to minimise that and to accept that some element of additional cost is involved. Even if there were no campus, however, we would still need to invest in road, rail, Luas and metro to achieve the best possible quality of life for thousands of families in Blanchardstown and the surrounding areas. Blanchardstown's population is large enough already for it to qualify as one of Ireland's ten largest towns. The plans are ready, progress is being made, consultation is beginning and metro north and west, in particular, will alleviate many of the concerns people raised in objecting to the development of this project.

There is an opportunity cost associated with the use of a site owned by the State for the campus. This site was chosen after careful study by PricewaterhouseCoopers and is not only the most accessible to the whole of Ireland and to the world through its proximity to the airport but also a significantly versatile and flexible one.

The sports campus must be built on a value for money basis. The community must be able to see what it gets in return for any investment it is asked to make. Where that is fair, a proportion of the cost of the surrounding infrastructure should be added to the cost of the campus, especially if an independent view held that the infrastructural need arose directly from the campus. When costs are being measured, it is fair to set out the benefits of these improvements as well.

It must attract and retain the support of sport as a whole. This must be an inclusive project which will promote participation at every level as well as support for the elite athletes we need to develop. It must be accessible to the whole community. The vision behind this project included the notion that it might be a visible manifestation of an island at peace with itself. It must be accessible to all on the island.

The campus must be part of an overall strategy for Irish sport. Investment must continue throughout the country through the national governing bodies and in people as well as in bricks and mortar. We ought to aspire to the best national facilities and put an end to young lads having to change in the ditch. Our young people deserve the best facilities.

From the point of view of an enduring life and viability for the project and because it is the right thing to do for the community, the campus must reflect the best architectural practice, amenity value, and state-of-the-art facilities. There should always be room for an independent overview of a great public project such as this, and accountability must be a fundamental principle. Those benchmarks should apply to this project.

To allay concerns, it is important to outline the careful planning that has already gone into this project. The Government decided in 2004 to proceed with the phased development, as financial resources permit, of a sports campus on the State-owned lands at Abbotstown. Campus and Stadium Ireland Development Limited, CSID, was requested to put forward proposals. With the assistance of experienced project managers and sports consultants, CSID prepared a development control plan. Wide-ranging consultations took place with the Irish Sports Council, the Olympic Council of Ireland, the major governing bodies of sport and other key stakeholders and interest groups to identify the requirements for sports facilities.

Meetings also took place between CSID and Fingal County Council, which was completing its county development plan for 2005-11 at the time. During the consultation process it became clear that there was need to develop at national level top class sports facilities to cater in a dedicated way for elite professional and amateur sports people. There is also a need to provide a wide range of facilities, which would be available to the national governing bodies of sport and to the local community for individual and community related purposes.

We want a campus similar to that of the Australian Institute of Sport in Canberra, with similar results. Australia got its act together after poor performances at the 1976 Montreal Olympics, and in 1981 opened the Australian Institute of Sport to put it at the forefront of world sport by providing world class training facilities. Nineteen years later, it achieved this when it won a record 58 medals, including 16 golds, at the 2000 Sydney Olympics. It has won medals too at the recent Commonwealth Games.

We are only now examining the possibility of something that Australia envisaged 30 years ago and it will be another 25 years before we will see tangible benefits of such a far-sighted sports policy. On that basis, a proposal was prepared as phase 1 of the programme which would provide pitches and facilities for the three major field sports, rugby, soccer and Gaelic games, including shared core facilities such as accommodation and a gymnasium.

This phase also includes sports halls to cater for a range of indoor sports with spectator accommodation and publicly accessible all-weather floodlit synthetic pitches. More than 30 sports can be accommodated in the proposed indoor sports centre, including hockey, hurling, tennis, gymnastics, badminton, basketball, martial arts, bowls and boxing. It has been estimated that this first phase of the programme will cost €119 million and has a four to five-year delivery schedule.

There should be enough flexibility in the project to accommodate new and emerging sports. Many young people are interested in ice hockey and skating and until recently had to travel to Belfast to participate in those sports. Every few years some new sport emerges and we should try to provide for that.

I welcome this once in a lifetime opportunity, commend the Minister and his team on supporting this project and on the way they have driven sports policy to date. I wish them well with this project.

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