Shane Ross (Dublin Rathdown, Independent) | Oireachtas source

On the Macroom bypass the answer is "No". I will not give such an assurance under the heading of this Bill. At another time I would speak to the Deputy about that issue, but under the heading of this Bill I have no intention of giving such an assurance, and the Deputy does himself no favours by raising such an issue under this Bill, quite honestly. It is not helpful.

On the issue raised by Deputy Troy with regard to Northern Ireland, as he is aware it is slightly complicated by the situation there because there is no Executive. There will be a deal with Northern Ireland, and it is a question of exactly how it will be arranged in the absence of a Government there. The Government here is prepared and we will probably do a deal with Northern Ireland that will mean we are the people who actually take primary responsibility. Talks are ongoing in Belfast to reform the Northern Ireland Executive. However, the Executive has been supporting the bid since 2014, in conjunction with the Government, and is co-funding the bid. All five main parties in Northern Ireland have expressed their support in writing for hosting the tournament. Despite the fact they are out of power they wrote a letter stating they are fully behind the tournament at present. I am confident when the Executive is reformed, we will come to a mutual agreement on staging the tournament across the island, and the Secretary of the State is supportive of the Bill. The arrangement that will be made will depend on the political and Government situation up there but an arrangement will be made and we are absolutely certain it will be binding.

I will speak about the benefits of hosting in response to Deputy Troy. It is difficult to quantify it in monetary terms because we do not know what the revenue would be. The tourism potential would be considerable. It would take place during Ireland's shoulder season for overseas tourism, which would be a great advantage, as it is a time when tourism begins to flag a bit. It will take place in the autumn, between mid-September and October, when tourism is not at its highest point. It will be an added benefit.

The direct economic return of hosting the tournament here would be primarily derived from spending by overseas visitors. Based on the travel patterns relating to the 2015 Rugby World Cup in England, there would be an estimated 445,000 overseas visitors with a total direct spend across the island of €760 million - in 2023 prices - and a tax return to the Irish Exchequer of €138 million. These are conservative projections. However, we are talking a really serious benefit which is not reflected immediately in the tournament budget or fee.

Hosting Rugby World Cup 2023 would also generate many other benefits such as community pride and engagement, capacity-building of volunteers, an activation programme of festivals and cultural events, business networking and opportunities, promotion and participation in sport, as well as increased physical activity with consequent health benefits. Rugby, and sport in general, will benefit from the tournament’s domestic legacy, including in the form of investment in the enhancement of existing stadia.

There are also the intangibles. How much benefit will this be to the nation as a whole over a long period? The branding of the country will improve. How many repeat visitors will we get? Based on a response to a survey in the UK, the figures for the likelihood of people paying return visits to the country after they had been there increased. The long-term benefits will be enormous.

Deputy Eamon Ryan asked about the other forms of income. We can bid for commercial rights. Rugby World Cup does not have to sell them to us, but we can bid for them. This is a sensitive area and perhaps the Deputy will understand that. I did not mean to be too hard on the Deputy about commercial rights. However, it is difficult to say whether we are involved in it because it is open to bidding from all three nations. Several rights held by Rugby World Cup, such as selected sponsorship categories and hospitality licensing, are on offer for potential hosts to bid. We will only be bidding for them if we believe they make commercial sense and we can get more revenue from them. That is open to us. Negotiations are ongoing and rival bidders are also expected to bid. No figures have been agreed. Rugby World Cup will examine the bids. If it chooses to accept the offers, subject to bidder being awarded the hosting rights, then the details will have to be finalised by the middle of September. Rugby World Cup may decide not to sell any of these rights. The provisions of sections 3 and 4 grant the Minister all potential options to support any purchase of these rights and to structure it in such a way that would be of best advantage to the State and the tournament. We cannot reveal our hand to competitors and weaken our chances of winning the bid.

Deputy Munster spoke about the need for controls. I take her point about it being a blank cheque. The Deputy is correct that it is a large figure in anybody’s terms. The likelihood of the cheque ever being cashed is pretty small. What we are providing is a guarantee. We are still talking about a €300 million plus figure but only in the event of no tickets being sold. It is a fair comment to pluck that figure out and claim it is the ultimate liability. The likelihood of that happening is small. The projections, which are conservative, suggest, on the basis of the past record, that we should make a surplus of some sort. That would be tremendous. That is a straightforward profit not taking into account the intangibles of which I have also spoken about such as tourism and tax benefits.

The governance framework is important. The IRFU will be the contracting party and signatory to the hosting agreement as required by Rugby World Cup. A local organising committee will be established as a designated activity company to deliver the tournament. There will be a shareholders’ agreement between all parties which sets out the reporting arrangements, governance structures, reserved matters, step-in rights and the treatment of any tournament surplus and shortfall. Robust controls and monitoring processes adopting best practice principles will be put in place for the local organising committee's operations and recognising the support to be provided by the Irish Government and the Northern Ireland Executive. Experienced major events personnel will be appointed by the local organising committee and empowered with day-to-day operational responsibility. An agreement will be put in place between the Governments in regard to the tournament fee and budget guarantee. Those are strict and stringent corporate governance requirements.

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