Ray Butler (Meath West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the opportunity to speak on this Bill and congratulate the Minister of State and the Departments concerned on getting agreement to have part of the Euro 2020 championship finals played in Ireland. The Sports Bill 2014 provides for the dissolution of the Irish Sports Council, ISC, and the National Sports Campus Development Authority, NSCDA, and for the merger of the functions into a single entity to be established and known as Sport Ireland. This is to be welcomed. A merger of the council and the authority is part of the Government's programme for the rationalisation of State agencies and is in line with Fine Gael's manifesto commitment to cut the number of Government quangos. The merger of the organisations will result in a number of savings, including savings resulting from the removal of duplication of administrative functions, as well as reduced salary costs on foot of the elimination of one chief executive post.

My forte arises from my lifelong involvement with the four-legged athletes of the greyhound industry, and it is evident that a reduction in the number of chief executive posts would represent a huge saving. President Obama would not be getting the same wages as some of the chief executive officers who got posts from the previous Administration, and this measure is to be greatly welcomed. I am familiar with the huge cost associated with putting in place the anti-doping measures within the greyhound industry, and I am sure it is the same in respect of two-legged sport as well. Consequently, the reduction in the total number of board members, with a consequential reduction in fees payable, is also to be welcomed because many of these boards were quangos and I definitely agree with this reduction in numbers.

The Bill also designates Sport Ireland as the national anti-doping organisation for the State and proposes enhanced provisions in respect of anti-doping in Irish sport. The Bill includes new provisions that will help Sport Ireland in its work combatting doping in sport, thereby continuing the work done by the Irish Sports Council in this area. As all Members are aware, doping is a serious problem in all sports. I hope the single body, Sport Ireland, will finally bring in serious new rules and regulations in respect of doping in sports. If people do the crime, the punishment should fit the crime. When a lifetime ban is being given, it should mean a lifetime ban, not like other bans where, after a period, this sentence is changed. While there is a saying that time is a good healer, when it comes to doping and cheating, nobody should get a lighter sentence if found guilty. This issue even has arisen in the sport I love so well, namely, greyhound racing, in which bans were imposed but then were lifted. In other sports, such bans also were lifted after a period. This should not be the case and if a lifetime ban is handed down, it should last a lifetime.

I also welcome the announcement yesterday by the Minister of State, Deputy Harris, regarding the rates issue on sports facilities that sporting bodies with bar licences will only be valued for rates in respect of the bar in the clubhouse. This is welcome because sporting bodies nationwide have been left with huge rates bills and have been obliged to close the facilities. In my home town of Trim, the GAA club built a fabulous sports facility and bar, and although the bar only took up one room in the area, the club's rates bill was astronomically huge. It was obliged to close the bar, which was very sad because it was a wonderful facility in the clubhouse. When the club runs functions, it currently is obliged to seek a licence for just the nights on which they are being run, which is a great expense to the club. Moreover, the club is paying off a huge rates bill with which it was left. Consequently, this is welcome news for all sports and social clubs nationwide.

To revert to the Bill, it is to be welcomed. It provides for a statutory basis for Ireland's anti-doping programme and for Irish anti-doping rules. It also provides for information sharing between Sport Ireland and relevant organisations, including the Irish Medicines Board, the Garda Síochána and Customs and Excise, which is an essential element in the fight against doping in sport. It is essential that sport is played on a level playing field, and this Bill will ensure this takes place.

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