David Stanton (Cork East, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister of State for being here to respond to this topic, which is something I feel strongly about. A Leas-Cheann Comhairle, with all due respect to the Minister of State, I did not receive notice that the housing Minister would not be here but that is something you might come back to me on, please, at some stage.

The issue I raise has to do with clubs, organisations and communities trying to find land for football, hurling, camogie, running or whatever activity it is. Across the country there is a problem with that. I commend the Minister of State, Deputy Chambers, and the Government on what is happening with sports capital funding. The amount of money made available in the last tranche is fantastic and I hope that continues into the next tranche. We have the economy going well to make that happen. The Minister of State said to me recently in the House:

There is an issue in certain parts of the country concerning land. Through the development plan process, it is incumbent on local authorities to ensure land is allocated for recreational use. Many local authorities are doing that.

He said the role of his Department is "to facilitate grassroots and local authority applications to fund specific projects. As a Department, [they] are not presently in the space of purchasing land or owning a significant land bank...". We have a situation where it falls back to volunteers to find and purchase the land, make sure it is zoned properly and that planning is on it. That is an awful lot of stress and pressure on volunteers.

I am sure the Minister of State and Leas-Cheann Comhairle will agree that sport, recreation and such activities are vital for young people, and maybe people who are not so young as well. Young people's involvement in sport develops physical and mental fitness and builds community. They learn how to win and lose and we have many policies around sport. The one thing we do not have at national level is a clear direction to local authorities to zone land and make it available.

We also have the National Asset Management Agency, NAMA. I put down a question to the Minister for Finance about NAMA and he said the agency can facilitate the sale of properties for social purposes where it is commercially practical to do so. We are back again to local volunteers having to raise money to purchase land, and land is in short supply. I had the idea that we could mandate NAMA to make land available in communities where it is properly located.

Deputy Sherlock will be aware of Kilworth and what has been done up there. They have football, hurling, soccer and the whole lot together in one area at the edge of a village. Everyone can walk there and get involved. In my town of Midleton, we are trying to find land for a running track but without success. They are now talking about building 2,500 units on the edge of the town and no recreational facilities are available for that kind of activity. The GAA in our town had to raise a lot of money to build its own facilities. We have hundreds of young people who want to take part but they cannot do so. It is the same with swimming facilities, as I highlighted in the House recently.

We need a strong, coherent policy from central government. For mental and physical health, this would be a win-win situation. It builds communities and helps everybody in the long term. I was Minister of State in the Department of Justice for a while and dealt with youth justice. I can say strongly that nothing works better than having facilities for sport and activities for young people to keep them away from trouble, bother and all the ills and attractions out there. I implore the Minister of State to go back to her colleagues and develop a national policy whereby we direct the local authorities to make sure land is available for these kind of activities.

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