Séamus Healy (Tipperary South, Independent)

I welcome the opportunity to speak on the National Sports Campus Development Authority Bill 2006 which was published in February. It provides for the establishment, on a statutory basis, of the National Sports Campus Development Authority, and succeeds Campus and Stadium Ireland Development Limited. It will oversee the planning and development of a sports campus at Abbotstown.

The Bill sets out the functions of the authority which shall be to develop and manage a sports campus on the site and to encourage and promote its use by professional amateur sports people and members of the public alike. Its provides for the site owned by the Minister for Agriculture and Food to be conveyed to the authority, if necessary, and if necessary also for the authority to develop the land pending the conveyance of the site from the Minister.

I welcome the Bill and what it is trying to do. Everybody involved in political and community life would welcome it. It promotes sports and seeks to provide proper facilities for sport at national level. We hear a good deal nowadays about infrastructure, roads, railways, broadband and bridges and how necessary they are. The most important infrastructure is human beings. It is important that resources are put into services for people, to ensure they are properly educated, housed, have a proper health service and access to sporting facilities and sports generally. If people are active in the sports, whether Gaelic football, hurling, soccer or rugby, it diminishes the likelihood of difficulties arising in the area of anti-social behaviour. Any resources that can be put into developing services for human beings are welcome. I welcome the Bill from that point of view.

I hope the emphasis on sport and its development will start the fight against obesity which is prevalent in young people. Unfortunately many young people choose to use Playstation or a television or video screen rather than engage in active sport.

When the Abbotstown facility is developed, access should be available to everybody and not just elite sportsmen and women. The facility must be open to all and they must be welcomed into it, irrespective of their level of competence in a particular sport and there must be provision for the disabled. In the past, the disabled have not been provided with access to such facilities. I know of a number of cases where access was not provided to newly completed or renovated swimming pools. Some groups in our communities have been excluded from what are considered normal activities for the community. I hope the members of those groups will have access to the Abbotstown facility.

The Abbotstown facility should be run on a value for money basis, but not on a for-profit basis. It should work to break even and should subsidise full access for the elderly, the disabled or those who have been socially excluded. The emphasis should not be on making money, or on breaking even.

I compliment and thank the huge numbers of people regularly involved in voluntary work in sport throughout the country. It has become more difficult to be a volunteer in this era because of work and family commitments, but many people still give of their time to their local community and sports clubs. I am sure the significant work done by the large numbers of people involved in my area is reflected throughout the country. They are involved in running local soccer, GAA, rugby, tennis and swimming clubs etc. without financial or other reward apart from that of making their talents available to their local communities.

Many Deputies from both sides of the House have repeatedly asked the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment to remove the cap from the social and community employment schemes. We have been calling for the removal of this cap since the Tánaiste was the relevant Minister. The cap has a significant effect on the running of sports clubs. I mentioned already the voluntary work done by most of the people involved in local clubs, but the support of community and social employment schemes is also an important element for these clubs. Many of these schemes are under serious pressure because they are not getting sufficient numbers of applicants because of the capping regulations.

I urge the Minister to reconsider and remove the cap. If it is not removed many of the schemes will finish. Some have already ended while others have been amalgamated. Prior to Christmas, 50 places were lost on such schemes in my constituency. I have been told that unless capping is removed by the end of this year, there will be significant vacancies that will lead to the closure of many of the schemes.

It is important to take the right approach with regard to the provision of sports facilities in schools and to deal with this issue urgently. Many of our schools have no sports facilities. A recent survey showed that only 23% of primary schools have sports halls, many of which are small, cramped and not really suitable for the purpose. The Minister for Education and Science must take a serious interest in this area. It appears that the Department has decided that the provision of sports halls will no longer be part of new secondary school developments. Scoil Ruane in Killenaule, County Tipperary, just on the border of my constituency, has been looking for a sports hall for several years, but has just been told that it is no longer the policy of the Department to provide these halls. This is a detrimental step and should be reversed. Sports in schools should be supported by the Department.

While I support the development of the sports campus at Abbotstown, I hope it will not interfere with the development and funding of sports facilities at local level. I would like to see a bottom-up approach. Local sports halls and facilities should be provided in all areas. Local clubs, which operate in most cases on a voluntary basis, must be supported and their funding should not be diminished as a result of the funding of the Abbotstown development.

The human infrastructure is vitally important for the future of sport. I support and welcome the Bill. I hope the development of the Abbotstown sports campus will not diminish the funding or support for local initiatives for which I urge the Minister to provide additional funding.

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