John O'Donoghue (Kerry South, Fianna Fail)

It is not intended that the headquarters of each body be located at Abbotstown in the near future. The FAI headquarters will move there immediately and the Institute of Sport will be there by the end of the year. Other national governing bodies of sport will move headquarters to Abbotstown. The training centre provided under phase 1 will provide world class training facilities for over 30 governing bodies of sport. It will not be an accommodation centre but a training centre for minority sports. For example, there will be a basketball court for Basketball Ireland. This will enable elite athletes from the governing bodies of sport to reach their full potential. Back-up will be provided by the Institute of Sport, providing medical, nutritional and physiological advice. The intention is to ensure our athletes have the same back-up as those in other countries. The vision is that this commences the construction of a necklace with pearls of varying sizes being added at varying intervals by various Governments until the necklace is complete.

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