Michael Ring (Mayo, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The Deputy is correct - sport is something that brings everyone together. During the past five years of the serious economic downturn sport was the one thing that lifted the souls, minds and spirits of the people.

I thank the GAA for making its facilities available because the bid could not happen if it did not do so. There will be representatives of both Governments, North and South, on the working group. There will also be representatives of the three tourism agencies and the IRFU. The composition of the committee is one of the issues that must be discussed. A roadmap will be drawn up of how the bid will be put together. We must decide whether to set up a company and whether the IRFU or the Government will make the bid. That is the point of setting up the committee. Two representatives of the IRFU will be involved. They must be present because we will depend on them to support us with the bid. I have outlined the purpose of the committee, which is to draw up a roadmap and plan the cost and the funding required from the North and the South. The committee will report back to both Ministers before the summer and many other issues will arise along the way. When the report is handed to the Government, we will then make a decision on it.

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