Anthony Lawlor (Kildare North, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I will start by giving out to the Minister of State because he is too fair. His predecessors used to curry political favour in the home county of the Minister with responsibility for sport or the Minister for Finance. The Minister of State has been most fair in giving each county a fair share of the funding available based on population. Limited though the funding is, each county has benefited on a pro ratabasis and I congratulate the Minister of State on this, even though I am giving out to him for being too fair.

My county received a number of small amounts of funding for various groups which I know will be used to great benefit, as it was on the previous occasion, particularly as the amount of matching funding required by the clubs or organisations was reduced from 30% to 15%. A former Minister from my constituency, Charlie McCreevy, dished out allocations of €700,000, €800,000 and €900,000 and clubs had to come up with 30% of it. As a result some of them are now in financial difficulties because they had to borrow to provide the matching funding. The Minister of State has been smart enough to recognise a small pool of money can go a long way to get more people participating in sport at local level.

I congratulate the Irish Sports Council on its phenomenal work. Everyone speaks about the elite athletes, and I congratulate the two sailors who qualified for the 2016 Olympic Games. However, when one looks at the figures beyond the elite athletes one sees that 700,000 kids participate in sport, which to my mind is a huge success for the Irish Sports Council. The establishment of the sports partnerships in each county, and the annual funding of €5 million allocated to them, has accrued benefits in getting people participating in sport.

There are 685 walking trails throughout the country. Walking trails cater for someone as young as three years of age to someone as old as 100 and are of huge benefit to cross-sections of the population. I will be parochial and ask the Minister of State to examine the canals running through Kildare. I have been pushing hard for many years for these to be opened for cycling and walking. Kildare is bereft of tourism and we do not have a Westport or the glorious sights along the Atlantic Way such as there are in Mayo. We are fortunate to be the thoroughbred county and horse racing is our main sport. I must say to the previous speakers, who are from Tipperary and Clare, that Kildare won more all-Ireland hurling championships this year then either Tipperary or Clare, or Cork for that matter as I see Deputy Creed looking at me.

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