John O'Mahony (Mayo, Fine Gael)

I thank the Minister for his reply but I would like him to be more specific. I detected an ominous note in what he said. The Minister used the term "current economic situation". When he arrived home from the Beijing Olympics, he referred to a need to put in place some of the facilities that would attract teams to Ireland prior to the games of 2012. Do I take it that the position has changed? Does the funding for Sports Campus Ireland remain secure?

It is not merely a case of foreign teams benefiting from coming to Ireland, we need to prepare our Olympic team as well. Some facilities are already in place which meet the required standard. I refer here to those in Limerick, which can be accessed via Shannon Airport, and the Breaffy international complex in County Mayo, which can be accessed via Ireland West Airport at Knock. Are there plans in place to allow us to work with our counterparts in Northern Ireland and share facilities to attract teams to locations north and south of the Border? What plans are in place to exploit that which is already in existence?

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