Dominic Hannigan (Meath East, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the opportunity to speak on this Bill, which is a very positive move. Not only will another quango disappear from Irish life but a new leaner organisation will take its place. I hope Sport Ireland will play a key role in the development of sport throughout the country and, in particular, will focus on young people and on people from new communities and get them involved.

Like the previous speaker, my colleague, Deputy Wall, I know of the importance of sport in people's lives and I also know of the commitment of the Minister of State. He has not had the pleasure of watching his own county win an All-Ireland final unlike my colleague, Deputy Wall, and myself but I note he was an all-Ireland winner when at school in the vocational schools all-Ireland competition. I know the Minister of State realises how important it is ensure not only one particular group in sport gets all the funding and that we share as much money as we can across communities.

In my constituency of Meath East, I have seen how a little bit of funding can go a long way to help to build communities, in particular new communities, of which we have seen a large influx recently, but also rural communities. We have spoken in the past about a particular athletics club in Meath. Cushinstown Athletics Club was set up in the middle of a small townland and over the years, the community has come together to turn it into one of the best athletics club in the country. Clubs like that need to be supported.

The Minister of State will also be aware of the Boyne Valley cycle route - the new greenway that stretches all the way from Drogheda along the River Boyne to the Battle of the Boyne site in Oldbridge. It is a great new amenity only made possible by the support of this Government and the Minister of State's Department. It is open approximately six months but it is already being used by many tourists and locals and it is helping to promote a healthy lifestyle as well as tourism and expenditure in the local area. Making Sport Ireland leaner and efficient is very positive as is ensuring we target the money to those clubs which need it so that communities can benefit.

I refer to Schedule 1 on how the board is appointed, which is very relevant given the discussion over the past few days. I have a few suggestions which perhaps the Minister of State might consider taking on board. Schedule 1, paragraph 2(2) states that the members of Sport Ireland shall be appointed by the Minister. I wonder whether we could be stronger here and state that the members of the board of Sport Ireland will have to go through the Public Appointments Service, so that they are assessed on their experience and merit before they are appointed. That would be proper and transparent and I believe it is something the public wants to see.

Schedule 1, paragraph 2(6) states that the Minister shall, in so far as is practicable, endeavour to ensure that among the members of Sport Ireland, there is an equitable balance between men and women. That does not go far enough. People will say they could not find the right candidate. We need to be stronger than this and state that there must be a minimum number of males and a minimum number of females. My party has gender quotas so that in an election, there must be a minimum number of candidates of each gender. That would be stronger and would help to redress the balance we see on many State boards where we see 60%, 70% and, in some cases, 80% males. I would like the Minister of State to consider that. There are no age limits for service on the board, which is a good thing. We need to be very inclusive of all age groups in Irish society.

Schedule 1, paragraph 2(5) suggests that we need at least one board member with finance experience and at least one board member with law experience, which is fair enough, but we need another two paragraphs here. Somebody from the disability community should be represented on the board as a matter of course. We have seen the successful performance of our athletes in the recent Paralympics. We need to learn from that and ensure their particular insights are brought to bear in the decisions of the board. We should also look at how we can involve new communities in Sport Ireland. We are not at the stage yet at which other countries are, where they have heroes from members of their new communities. Germany has players like Mesut Özil, Italy has players like Mario Balotelli and the UK has Mo Farah, all of whom are members of the new communities who became national heroes. We have only seen immigration in the past 12 to 15 years. We are not at that stage yet but we can expect, and we should plan, to see members from new communities taking part and running or playing football for their new country. I would like to see new communities represented on the board so that their particular concerns and issues are taken on board in the planning of Sport Ireland.

I thank the Minister of State for the commitment he is showing to sport and for the work he is doing to ensure clubs have the necessary capital expenditure when they need it. This Bill is very positive and I commend it to the House.

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