Michael Ring (Mayo, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The Deputy mentioned Paddy Barnes, who is turning professional, and I wish him the best of luck. Moreover, I hope he does as well as a professional boxer as he did with the Irish Sports Council, because he has received a substantial amount of money from taxpayers. Moreover, if there is one organisation that cannot complain about the current Government, it is the boxing body. When I came into office in 2011, the Government allocated €1.2 million to make sure facilities could be upgraded nationwide. This year, boxing received an additional €1 million, apart from the money it receives from the Irish Sports Council. Consequently, boxing is a sport the Government has supported very well. I reiterate that I wish Paddy Barnes the best of luck and in a few years time, we will see whether he is better off than he was with the Irish Sports Council. I know of people in many parts of this country who turned professional but I am unsure how well they do. Nevertheless, I wish him the very best of luck. He did this country proud and we were delighted with him.

In response to the question the Deputy asked, the allocation to the Irish Sports Council has been cut by 3% but the overall funding to sport has been increased this year. While one organisation may not have got what it sought, I will provide the Deputy with a few examples. The Government has put €23 million into the sports capital programme, €10.3 million into the local authority swimming pool programme and €15.9 million into the National Sports Campus, as well as €1.74 million in current expenditure. Moreover, the Irish Sports Council will receive €42,496,000. Overall, the total amounts to €93 million, which is the greatest amount of money that has gone into sport. These are difficult economic times and yet the Government has done very well to protect sports funding. While I of course do not like to see any cuts in respect of sport, I always tell my colleagues in government-----

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