Jimmy Deenihan (Kerry North, Fine Gael)

In view of the fact that bringing the Ryder Cup to Ireland cost taxpayers in the region of €16 million, surely they should be entitled to at least see it free-to-air. As Deputy Wall stated, only one in five households here have Sky Sports. The Government could have included this event in the legislation. The excuse that golf is not considered part of Irish culture is rather lame. More people are playing golf in parts of the country than any other sport. It is very much part of the discussion in pubs where people speak more about golf than almost any other sport.

In deciding that the Ryder Cup should not be free-to-air, the Government has done a major disservice to the taxpayers. It was their money that brought this event to Ireland and come September when people find out they have to pay €700 or some such sum to Sky in order to see the Ryder Cup they will be most annoyed in view of the investment they have already made in it.

I do not know if the matter is open to negotiation with Sky. Perhaps an arrangement could be made with RTE so its viewers could view the event free-to-air or will the Minister indicate if it is possible for the Government to contribute a fee? If there is a window of opportunity, it should be explored because the current situation is grossly unfair.

In terms of what Deputy Wall said about pricing, the Minister should send out the word to golf clubs around the country not to increase their prices for this event as thousands of American golfers will come here in the weeks before the event and they will see the prices in June, July and August and if prices are increased for September it will send out a bad signal about Ireland.

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