Brendan Griffin (Kerry, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome that response from the Minister of State. He has my full support and I think I speak for many Deputies in that regard concerning his endeavours in this area. Since 1998, more than €1 billion has been distributed through the sports capital programme. It has transformed the landscape of Irish sport in the time it has been operating. Much more must be done, though, and a great deal of catching up must be undertaken, particularly regarding certain sporting organisations that have not availed of the programme as enthusiastically and in as organised a way as others may have. This catching up must happen and money talks. If we can get the overall budget pot increased, the other problems will tend to take care of themselves and the outcome for many more clubs will be much better. That is why the macro situation in respect of the overall pot of funding available is critically important. I commend the Minister of State on his efforts in that regard and I ask him to keep going with them, because these funds will make a massive difference on the ground for so many organisations.

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