Mary Upton (Dublin South Central, Labour)

There was a protracted and difficult process before a resolution was reached but we arrived at a resolution. The Irish Sports Council did not ask to be the agency to deliver the money. It did not volunteer to do so, but that role was foisted upon it. In 2007, the Department of Arts, Sport and Tourism stated that an amount of €3.5 million would be provided in 2008 to fund such schemes. We simply cannot turn back the clock now, leave the players high and dry, say it is over and that they may go and sing for their supper because the money is no longer there.

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