Mary Upton (Dublin South Central, Labour)

I congratulate the Minister on his appointment and send good wishes to his predecessor, Deputy Séamus Brennan.

I thank the Minister for his reply, but it does not get to the heart of what I am trying to establish here. An institute of sport was first mooted by the then Minister, Deputy Jim McDaid, in December 2001 following the Sydney Olympic Games. There was an Athens review in 2006, when the institute of sport, and its importance, was promoted. We have been promised publication of the Bill for a long time. Indeed, prior to the general election in 2007, if I remember rightly, we were assured the Bill would be published. It seemed to disappear off the list for a while and now it is back again. It would appear we will not get that Bill until the end of the year.

In the meantime, there will be the Olympic Games. The Minister has indicated that it has no impact on the promotion of sport. We have seen the appointment of Seán Kelly and a number of other specialists in the area. We are still leaving an air of uncertainty around it. The future status of the Institute of Sport is not clear. Will it be a subsidiary company of the Irish Sports Council?

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