Duncan Smith (Dublin Fingal, Labour) | Oireachtas source

It behoves all of us to reflect on the second part of the contribution made by my constituency colleague, Deputy Joe O'Brien, not only the testimonies he shared but the comments he made thereafter. I commend the work the Deputy has done for many years, and continues to do, in tackling racial discrimination in this sphere. It is a credit to him and our constituency.

I will ask some practical questions before making a number of comments. Can further clarity be provided to clubs on the sports capital grant? I am aware that this issue was raised earlier but these grants are the central plank of sports funding for many clubs, which build much of their planning and funding around them. If the Minister of State could give further clarification on the 2020 sports capital programme, it would be much appreciated.

A number of sports clubs have contacted me asking why they have been excluded from the restart grant announced by the Minister for Business, Enterprise and Innovation. They are availing of the three month waiver for commercial rates but when the phasing ends and they open up they will have been five months out of business. There is a two month lag, and they would benefit from being able to apply for the restart grant. Will the Minister and Minister of State, in their official capacity, make representations to their ministerial colleague to allow sports clubs to apply for the grant? The amount of money is not great in the overall scheme of things, but it is great for individual clubs and would make a huge difference in helping them get back up and running and on their feet.

Is a grant or pot of money - I know there are not many of those around - still available for the local authority swimming pool programme? If so, can changes be made to the terms of the grant to repurpose it in order to help swimming pools bounce back from the hit they have taken?

One issue that has come up, and was touched on by a previous speaker, is fundraising. We are all in awe of sports clubs and their committees, and how they constantly strive to improve, get people out playing sport, improve their facilities and raise funds. When everything shut down that drive to raise funds continued and many clubs wanted to run online lotteries. However, a licence had to be granted by the District Court. I have written to the Minister for Justice and Equality, Deputy Flanagan, requesting that powers be devolved to the superintendent in local Garda stations to allow licences for online lotteries to enable sports clubs to raise funds. It was a barrier we did not know existed until this pandemic and one the Department could address. God forbid we are ever in this situation again but it would make it easier for sports clubs to engage in this form of fundraising if superintendents had this power. It would also have helped many clubs over the last couple of months. I am hopeful the Minister of State will take that proposal on board. I am interested to hear his thoughts on it.

While I do not want to wade into the issue of the FAI because the League of Ireland and FAI are at a sensitive point in their discussions, the FAI has always appeared to play the central role in Irish football. It has always put itself forward as the main actor in Irish football to the detriment of grassroots soccer, our international football team and the League of Ireland, which only exists because its clubs have pulled themselves up by their boot straps. The League of Ireland cannot be allowed to fall off the cliff. There is an existential crisis and a feeling of despondency in the League of Ireland. Who can blame it for that given that it has always been treated by the FAI as last on the list and never worthy of the investment and support it requires? My colleagues, Deputies Andrews and Feighan, spoke about the club I support, Shamrock Rovers, and what it does in the community. We can all point to what our League of Ireland clubs do and the reach they have in their local community. They have done all of that themselves.

I know the Minister sees that and agrees with it but I appeal to him and his Department because not only do clubs have to get through this crisis but we need to place the League of Ireland front and centre in Irish soccer. They combine grassroots soccer and the international stage. We all just about remember Stuttgart and Euro 1988, Italia 1990, USA 1994 and all these marquee events but it is the Friday nights in Tallaght Stadium, the Brandywell, Turners Cross and everywhere else that soccer thrives and needs to do so for the future. I ask the Minister to bring that back and send it, through his Department, to the FAI and everyone else.

As a boxing fan, I add my utter disturbance and disgust at what is going on with this proposed world heavyweight title fight. Like many other boxing fans, I have always enjoyed world title fights. I have ordered them on television and met friends to watch them. I will be boycotting this title fight because it is a slur on the great sport of boxing and everything it has done at amateur and professional levels. I think of the great work of promoters such as Brian Peters and the nights they have given us in Ireland, including Bernard Dunne fights. I think of all the senior, intermediate and junior championships I have been at, the Olympic medals Irish boxers have won and the joy the sport has given. This casts a slur over all of that. I was used to reading about the dark side of boxing in history books, things that happened in Madison Square Garden in the 1930s and 1940s. To think that it is happening in 2020, and that an Irish person is being attached to it and credited with putting this fight together, being part of the sport washing that is going on, is disgusting. We can agree on how this is an abhorrence to us all. I add my voice to what has been said before and what will be said after I have spoken and I simply take that to the Minister and the Minister of State. I would appreciate any answers the Minister or Minister of State can give to the questions I have asked.

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