Brendan Griffin (Kerry, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

We do our best for the clubs throughout the country, and when one hears members of the Opposition criticising our work, it is disheartening. It is totally political and is beneath the Deputy.

It is not leaking if national governing bodies publicly state what their priorities are in their development plans. It is those bodies telling their members and the public what sporting infrastructure they believe is strategically important to them. The national governing bodies deserve an apology for the Deputy's rant about them leaking. They are not leaking. They are talking publicly about the projects which they consider to be strategically important to their organisations and they are entitled to do that. In the sports capital division in the Department the Minister, Deputy Ross, and I and our officials are working closely with the national governing bodies to assist them in whatever way we can. The large-scale sporting infrastructure fund will provide the facilities that showcase the high-performance athletes who will inspire the next generation of athletes and encourage sporting participation. There is nothing wrong with that and we are proud to assist with it.

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