Séamus Pattison (Carlow-Kilkenny, Labour)
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As the first two items are related, they will be taken together.

Charlie O'Connor (Dublin South West, Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Leas-Cheann Comhairle and I acknowledge the co-operation of his colleague, the Ceann Comhairle, in allowing me and my colleague, Deputy Crowe, to raise this special issue.

This week as I, along with Deputy Crowe, went about my business in my constituency serving not only Tallaght but also Brittas, Firhouse, Templeogue and Greenhills, many issues were brought to our attention. People spoke to us about the M50, the need for an estate project to be funded, the great news that at last we are to get a new Garda station and the debate on the National Children's Hospital's future in Tallaght.

Finian McGrath (Dublin North Central, Independent)
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Temple Street.

Charlie O'Connor (Dublin South West, Fianna Fail)
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I will debate that matter with Deputy McGrath another time.

I want to spend these minutes speaking about the importance of Shamrock Rovers and its vital role in my community in Tallaght. I will preface that by stating I am glad to acknowledge the presence of the Minister of State at the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform, Deputy Fahey. I recall he was a very progressive Minister with responsibility for sport in his day. He will be reminded of those days in this debate. I know he will support what I state. Unfortunately the Minister for Arts, Sports and Tourism, Deputy O'Donoghue, is not available to seek me out and speak to me on this motion. I acknowledge that.

I speak as someone who lives in and represents Tallaght and who, over the years, has greatly supported all sports development in my community. In that regard I want to mention the GAA. There has been much mischievous talk about the role of the GAA in this saga. Some recent newspapers have screamed that the GAA is to be run out of Tallaght. That is wrong and mischievous. I am supportive of all my local clubs. In fairness, successive Fianna Fáil Governments, and other Governments, have provided important funding for GAA development in local clubs such as St. Mark's, St. Ann's, Thomas Davis, St. Enda's and St. Jude's among others. It is important to make that point in the context of this motion.

This is about Shamrock Rovers, which has a long and proud history in Dublin. The saga regarding Tallaght has continued for a number of years. I was chairman of the council in 1999 when we took a brave and important decision to bring Shamrock Rovers to a new stadium beside Watergate Park in Tallaght. That decision was supported strongly over the years. Unfortunately, we have had problems getting the stadium opened. I do not want to cover all aspects as I wish to make a few points.

The wider community in the Tallaght region has a half-finished soccer stadium which could be of tremendous benefit. South Dublin County Council must make a decision next Monday to give the go-ahead to allow Government funding to be provided. There has been much toing and froing, particularly over the past couple of months. At its December meeting, the council took a decision to ignore the report that had been approved by the Tallaght area committee, which is a significant point. An amendment was unanimously adopted by the council to proceed on the basis of changing the plans to facilitate other sports and there was talk of the GAA etc. in that regard.

The Minister has made his position and that of the Government very clear. It is important Government funding is provided so that at last this stadium gets the go-ahead and is built. The manager has said that if he was on site, he would produce it in eight months. It is important we press for that.

The county manager has told us he will propose to the council next Monday that it now proceed to complete the stadium on the basis set out in the original report. Significantly, he has said that the next steps will be the signing of the building contract and the commencement of works on the stadium. That is what I and the community in Tallaght want to see.

I congratulate the new Shamrock Rovers which is now run by the fans under the direction of the 400 Club. I am glad Jonathan Roche, the chairman of the 400 Club, and other colleagues are in the Visitors Gallery. I hope they understand there is strong support for this stadium which would be ideal. I will call on the council next Monday to make a positive decision and to work with the Government to ensure funding is provided so that this stadium is ready and able to take Shamrock Rovers, hopefully in the premier division again very soon.

Seán Crowe (Dublin South West, Sinn Fein)
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The Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism needs to explain the decision to block the funding and the decision made by local councillors, which came as a total surprise. I reiterate that from the beginning, I and other councillors have been 100% behind the move of Shamrock Rovers to Tallaght. I want to see the speedy construction of the stadium. During the initial construction of the stadium, I offered to act as a mediator between Shamrock Rovers and the Building and Allied Trade Union, BATU, to resolve a labour dispute which arose.

I was surprised and confused by the mixed message from the Minister who said he was opposed to the concept of the multi-use stadium. That is going in the opposite direction from that in which sport is going, particularly when one considers what is happening in Croke Park and so on. There is much confusion. A worry I have is that while the council is clearly on board and going in one direction, the Minister has said the money will not be available. We must now go back to the drawing board, to some extent, at the council and try to get everyone on board.

I am worried about further delays. The Minister talked about the Genesis report which outlined a re-amalgamation of teams on the southside and northside and that on the southside, possibly Shamrock Rovers and St. Pat's would play in the Tallaght stadium. At a meeting two weeks ago, St. Pat's supporters knocked that proposal on the head. They are totally opposed to the move to Tallaght. At present work is going on in St. Pat's grounds to extend the pitch and also on the stadium. Those are not the actions of a club which will eventually move to Tallaght.

The move of Shamrock Rovers will be a positive one. As a youngster, I supported Shamrock Rovers and travelled all over the country with it. From day one, I wanted to see the stadium in Tallaght because it would play a positive role in children's lives.

The only reason I can see for the Minister not to approve the multi-use stadium is that there might be an extra cost factor. Deputy O'Connor is right that we have a partially built stadium, which is an eyesore. We want to see the stadium finished but the Minister seems to be holding it up, about which I am concerned. I want to see young people and families having the use of that stadium.

Shamrock Rovers, under previous configurations, was given the land for the stadium but has since lost it. It is now essentially public land and for that reason the public must be best served by the stadium as it involves public money. Shamrock Rovers is now being run by its true and loyal supporters, who must be accommodated.

There is much confusion. People want to see the stadium completed and up and running. That is the priority. When will the stadium be completed? If the Government is so concerned about the stadium moving ahead, why was the money not made available to Shamrock Rovers two years ago to go ahead with construction?

Frank Fahey (Galway West, Fianna Fail)
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I am pleased to take this opportunity to set out the background to this matter and outline the current state of play in relation to the proposed stadium in Tallaght. I apologise for the absence of the Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism.

Following the development of proposals by Shamrock Rovers Football Club to develop a soccer stadium in Tallaght and with the recommendation of the FAI, the Department of Arts, Sport and Tourism provided funding of €2.44 million towards this project in the period 2000 to 2002. This funding was allocated under the sports capital programme, which is administered by the Department to assist projects directly related to the provision of sports and recreational facilities.

The responsibility for overseeing and completing such projects lies entirely with the grant recipients. The €2.44 million was paid out based on invoices for work carried out to the value of €3.3 million on the stadium development certified by the Department's technical advisers, the Office of Public Works. It should also be recognised that a considerable investment in time, effort and money has been made in this project by the FAI and Shamrock Rovers Football Club.

Unfortunately, due to a number of factors not least of which was increased costs due to delays encountered in the planning process, progress on the development ceased in 2002. Since that time the Department of Arts, Sport and Tourism has worked closely with South Dublin County Council and the FAI to ensure that the common objective of developing a soccer stadium in Tallaght is achieved.

Following the intervention of South Dublin County Council late in 2004 and its efforts to regain ownership of the site, the Department indicated a willingness to support the council in putting together a financial package that would ensure the early completion of the stadium. This support was based on the plan to provide a soccer stadium for Tallaght that would serve as a viable long-term home for Shamrock Rovers Football Club. Indeed, South Dublin County Council articulated the proposal in a press release issued following its meeting on 10 January 2005 where it stated: "other non-soccer sporting organisations must develop their own sporting facilities".

During 2005, the necessity of ground sharing emerged as the only viable option for supporting investment in the development of Eircom soccer league stadia in Dublin. This was one of the key recommendations from the 2005 Genesis report on the Eircom league. Given that significant funding is being sought to ensure the completion of the Tallaght stadium, such investment can only be justified in its regular usage as a soccer stadium and potential home to two Eircom league clubs. The FAI also envisages it as an ideal venue when completed for high profile international youth and women's games on occasion.

The recent council decision to adopt the manager's report subject to increasing the size of the playing pitch and extending the stands seriously undermines the basis of the previously agreed approach. A larger pitch cannot easily be accommodated within the present site given the buildings already in place and would mean that a future stand on the far side of the existing uncompleted stand would be about half the size as originally envisaged thus limiting the future capacity to about 4,500 seats. Given that the ends of the partially completed west stand are curved, any proposal to extend along the length of a larger pitch is likely to involve demolition of part of the newly built structure leading to significantly increased costs.

With over €385 million allocated to the development of local sports infrastructure nationwide since 1998, it is clear that the Government is committed to investing in a wide variety of sports facilities. Of this amount, €73 million has been invested in facilities for soccer, €130 million for Gaelic games and a further €102 million for community facilities not specific to one particular sport. Tallaght has seen over €9.5 million allocated to clubs in the area in that period and will continue to benefit from funding under the programme.

There is no question of the Minister not being fully supportive of the development of GAA facilities in Tallaght and he would welcome proposals brought forward.

There is also no question of the Minister blocking funding for a multi-use stadium in Tallaght. It is a clear that the original objective of all the parties involved was to develop a modem soccer stadium in Tallaght which together with ancillary facilities would also serve the local community. Given that almost all the submissions made as part of the public consultation process made no reference to catering for other sports, I believe that the local community is fully behind this objective. Work has been undertaken on this development and at this stage there would be considerable cost implications and further delays if there was an obligation to adjust the stadium to cater for Gaelic games. The capacity of the stadium would be reduced and the ground sharing option for two Eircom league clubs would not be possible. This would be a lost opportunity for soccer.

It is my understanding that when completed, the stadium will remain in the control of South Dublin County Council, who will license its usage based on an annual number of games. The management and additional usage of the stadium and any ancillary facilities will be a matter for the council to decide. The Minister remains committed to the completion of a soccer stadium in Tallaght and is firm in his belief that recent efforts to change the scope of the agreed approach to the proposed project can only lead to an unsatisfactory stadium and to further delays and increased costs. The Department continues to be in regular contact with South Dublin County Council and is hopeful that a decision will be made to complete the stadium as originally intended. This project has had a difficult history and like those most directly involved over the years, the Minister is anxious that the stadium would be completed as a matter of urgency.

I completely reject Deputy Crowe's suggestions that the Minister has held up this facility in any way. It is clear that he is most anxious for it to proceed.

Seán Crowe (Dublin South West, Sinn Fein)
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Why did he not come up with the money a long time ago?

Frank Fahey (Galway West, Fianna Fail)
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Deputy O'Connor should be complimented on his positive approach. Hopefully, the issue can be resolved and we can proceed.

Finian McGrath (Dublin North Central, Independent)
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I know that the Minister of State is a Galway United supporter.