Jimmy Deenihan (Kerry North, Fine Gael)

I remind the Minister that Special Olympics Ireland looks after 11,000 athletes in 12 sports, in 402 clubs, supported by hundreds of community organisations throughout Ireland, with 18,000 volunteers. The perception is that Special Olympics Ireland is an event driven organisation, in that it organised the 2003 world games, but that is not the case. It is involved in training and coaching, providing facilities for 33% of all the young people with special needs in this country.

We were all very quick to jump on the bandwagon in 2003. It was very high profile, politically speaking. Politicians appeared on platforms all over Ireland, some to support, others no doubt to get cheap publicity.

However, Special Olympics Ireland only received 13.8% of its funding from Government sources. This is a derisory amount when one considers the effort put in by the people involved. Working with children with special needs is highly demanding and challenging and while it is also highly rewarding, it differs from working with children in mainstream athletics. The organisation has made a special application to the Government for an average of €3.3 million every year for the next five years. Next year, it needs this money to go to China and it also requires such funds in the future to develop its programmes. Will the Minister make a special case to the Cabinet to ensure the organisation will receive this funding?

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