Paul McAuliffe (Dublin North West, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I begin by responding to a really useful point made by Deputy Ó Ríordáin. I welcome the changes that have been made to promote gender equality and how sports capital funding might be aligned to that goal by using real tools within the process.

Deputy Ó Ríordáin also referred to the idea of sports clubs coming together. We all know that any groups coming together will have different agendas and so on. There should be a premium payable within the sports capital system to clubs that come together. There also should be a premium for clubs that work with the local authorities, which often can be an independent facilitator of those types of agreements. While every local sports club will want to achieve the best for its own agenda, there are examples of clubs and other organisations coming together, as Whitehall Colmcille GAA, Kevins GAA Club and St. Aidan's CBS in my area did, to realise a sports capital project. That comes about because of the huge personal commitment of individuals within those clubs. It can often be to their detriment when they have to go back and answer to their own committees about why certain things were done. We should be encouraging groups to do that. There should be a premium payable where multiple clubs are involved and we should encourage local authorities to act as facilitators.

There was huge investment in my area under the previous round of the sports capital grant. I apologise in advance for plaguing the Minister of State regarding the many applications that will be made under the next round. I will speak about two projects. One is more of a regional project and the other is not the subject of a current sports capital application but I hope it will be in the future. Regarding the first project, I am giving the Minister of State an opportunity to follow in the footsteps of Archbishop Desmond Tutu. The Futsal Arena in Ballymun has had several names, including the Umbro Futsal Arena, the FAI Futsal arena and the BRL Arena. It is a tragedy that it has lain idle for ten years. Public money went into it but there are structural problems with the arena. It is built on school grounds and, to complicate things, the school in question is owned directly by the Department of Education rather than a patron body. That school and the Irish Olympic Handball Association have come together to put in a regional sports application that would make Ballymun the home of Olympic handball and give all the beneficial elements that flow from that to the school and the local community. The arena is a public facility that is lying idle. It is a strong application and I believe the Irish Olympic Handball Association will be a strong partner to the school.

My fear, however, is that the Department of Education will have its own requirements, which often can delay a project. I have made representations on this matter to the Minister for Education. I ask that the Minister of State work with her, as I have no doubt he will, to ensure that if the project is successful in its sports capital application, which I am taking for granted it will be, they will both do everything they possibly can to ensure bureaucracy, paperwork, issues around governance and so on, which are important, do not get in the way of developing this huge facility. It has several hundred seats and a fantastic brand-new surface. Futsal is an indoor five-a-side soccer sport but the arena could be used for many other activities. There are two great partners involved. Fran Neary, the school principal, and Paddy O'Reilly, one of the directors of Trinity Dome, which is another name for the project, do not take "No" for an answer. They will not allow me to say "No" and I hope neither Department will say "No" to them.

The second project involves my local GAA club, Ballymun Kickhams. Dublin City Council has been in negotiations with the club for some time and has confirmed to me that it is very close to signing an agreement regarding what is called site 31, which would allow Ballymun Kickhams GAA Club to take ownership of a significant piece of land close to Ikea. The land is right on the metro line and can accommodate two senior pitches and a clubhouse, with the possibility of encompassing an adjoining third pitch that is currently managed by Setanta GAA Club. A larger project could be facilitated there. The project is not yet at application stage. It would have been too early for us to take it to the Minister of State. I am a real believer in ensuring projects are ready before an application is made. However, the Minister of State might come out to us, meet the people involved and assist and advise us on how we might go forward. It is a regional sports project. Although it will be controlled by Ballymun Kickhams GAA Club, it has a regional benefit. It is right on the M50 and the metro line. It could be a very good substitute for Parnell Park but I would not do that to the Dublin county board. It is a fantastic location.

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