Mary Upton (Dublin South Central, Labour)

I am glad to hear that, but we have been talking about this since 2001. I worry that we will spend another seven years talking about it. It appears to me that the Minister will not have anything in place prior to the Olympic Games. How will the funding be distributed to this new organisation? Will it come via the Irish Sports Council, or will it come independently? What exactly is the status — pension rights and so on — of the employees of the institute relative to those of the Irish Sports Council? Unless the employees know where they stand, it will be very difficult for them to have a long-term commitment unless it is clarified.

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