Mick Barry (Cork North Central, Solidarity) | Oireachtas source

I will be sharing my time with Deputy Boyd Barrett.

We would be delighted to see the Rugby World Cup come to Ireland in 2023 and are inclined to be supportive of the proposals. However, we have some issues and concerns that we will now raise.

First, we are not pleased that this Bill is being taken virtually in its entirety on one night. That is not the way business should be done. Rushed legislation does not generally make for good legislation. I understand the position outlined by the Minister that it only became apparent in April or May that this legislation would be necessary for the avoidance of doubt. Had a strong position been taken late last year, however, that we needed a definitive position by a certain cut-off point - perhaps the start of February or the beginning of March - and had the Attorney General come forward with a definitive position by then, we would not be having this rushed debate tonight which we consider has been unnecessary and about which we are dissatisfied. I am registering our opinion in this regard.

As for the essence of the issues, I will raise three issues in my contribution, the first of which is the issue of ticket prices. This is a really important issue for an event like this. This event must not be one where the ticket prices can only be afforded if one is wealthy or very comfortable or if one is prepared to go into hock for a long time to come. This should be an event for the people of Ireland and for that it be so, a key issue is that ticket prices should be affordable. Major sporting events in other countries have been tainted and tarnished by high ticket prices that put the pleasure of sitting in the stadium beyond the reach of ordinary people and their families. I need only give the example of the Olympic Games in Brazil last year where we saw the spectre on our television screens of vast areas of empty seating because those on the other side of the stadium walls could not afford to get in and a high percentage of those in the stadia were filling the corporate boxes. That must not happen here. I want to make that point strongly.

Second, if we hold the Rugby World Cup in 2023, it cannot be like the tide coming in and then going out with nothing left behind as a legacy for the people and sports community of Ireland. There must be legacy in terms of better public transport, better broadband facilities and, crucially, better facilities for sporting organisations, in particular, the ordinary rugby clubs the length and breadth of the country, which nourish and develop the game at the grassroots level and without which rugby in this country would not be anywhere near the force that it is today. I seek feedback from the Minister in his reply as to his vision of how that could be a legacy and benefit for the ordinary clubs.

The other issue I will make reference to, but not in great detail because it will be debated later on when we are discussing amendments, is Deputy Eamon Ryan's important amendment about television rights. This should not be a pay-per-view operation. It should not be the case that someone who wants to watch the games will have to fork out cash for the profit of large corporations. Television rights should be provided on a free-to-air basis. I ask the Minister to comment on that. What is the Minister's view? What is his opinion on how this issue might pan out?

There are other issues regarding the scale of the underwriting that is being spoken of but these will be looked at later on when we are discussing the amendments. I will park my comments there and make way for Deputy Boyd Barrett.

See this speech in context