Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I do not disagree. It has always been the bane of politicians' lives that they could not get a pitch or access to a hall, particularly in State-owned schools such as the ETB schools, formerly vocational education committee schools. I was struck by the number of school and club partnerships in the recent sport applications for funding that got funding from the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media. That is the way to go. Rather than having two separate sports halls, pitches or whatever adjacent to each other, there should be joint initiatives on sport. I remember a long time ago when a special plea was made to me for a full-size basketball hall in Coláiste na Sceilge as opposed to the Department's view of a physical education hall, which was much smaller. The Kerry representatives at the time made a very effective appeal and the result was that Kerry won one or two All-Ireland titles as a result. I agree 100% with the Deputy.

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