John O'Mahony (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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Question 123: To ask the Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism his plans for developing facilities to attract international Olympic teams to prepare here for the London Olympics in 2012; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [33570/08]

Martin Cullen (Waterford, Fianna Fail)
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The London 2012 Olympics and Paralympics task force was established in August 2006 to ensure Ireland can identify and maximise the complete range of opportunities arising from its proximity to the Olympic and Paralympic games that will be held in London in 2012. The task force included experts from the sport, tourism, cultural and business sectors and was supported by staff from within my Department.

In its report, the task force makes a number of recommendations on foot of an audit carried out in respect of high quality sports facilities in Ireland and the findings of a report by Indecon International Economic Consultants on the economic evaluation of the benefit to the island of Ireland of the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic games. The report highlights the opportunities for Ireland from the London 2012 games in the sport, tourism, cultural and business sectors. On the sporting side, proposals are put forward for investment in sports facilities which would increase our attractiveness as a training destination for Olympic teams in the lead up to and during the games. I understand that inquiries have already been made about the availability of sports facilities here for some Olympic teams.

During my recent attendance at the Beijing Olympics I engaged in informal discussions with Sebastian Coe, chairman of the London 2012 Olympic Games organising committee, to discuss the role Ireland can play in the games. I will shortly meet him in London to continue our discussions.

I will consider the implementation of the recommendations of the London 2012 task force report in the context of the annual Estimates cycle and taking account of the current economic situation. I also intend to meet the key stakeholders involved in the support of our elite athletes to discuss how we can best build on the success we had in Beijing and the supports required in terms of coaching, programmes, facilities and funding to ensure the optimum performance of Irish athletes at the London 2012 Olympic Games.

John O'Mahony (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Minister for his reply but I would like him to be more specific. I detected an ominous note in what he said. The Minister used the term "current economic situation". When he arrived home from the Beijing Olympics, he referred to a need to put in place some of the facilities that would attract teams to Ireland prior to the games of 2012. Do I take it that the position has changed? Does the funding for Sports Campus Ireland remain secure?

It is not merely a case of foreign teams benefiting from coming to Ireland, we need to prepare our Olympic team as well. Some facilities are already in place which meet the required standard. I refer here to those in Limerick, which can be accessed via Shannon Airport, and the Breaffy international complex in County Mayo, which can be accessed via Ireland West Airport at Knock. Are there plans in place to allow us to work with our counterparts in Northern Ireland and share facilities to attract teams to locations north and south of the Border? What plans are in place to exploit that which is already in existence?

Martin Cullen (Waterford, Fianna Fail)
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As the Deputy is aware, we are in the midst of an Estimates process at present. What will happen in the future will be decided as the budget approaches. However, this does not invalidate in any way what I said after the Olympic Games in Beijing. The points I made then remain valid now and I have not changed my mind in respect of them.

When people refer to 2012, it is usually in the context of huge teams coming to Ireland. Irrespective of the facilities we have to offer, it is unlikely that this will happen to any great degree. Some competitors in specific sports may come here for particular reasons. There is, however, a range of areas on the tourism side from which we can benefit, particularly when one considers that the Olympic Games of 2012 will be staged in London.

I am of the view — this is no secret — that the development of a cohort of sports facilities is vital to the long-term future of sport in this country. I support what has been said in the various reports in this regard. However, I am obliged to operate within the constraints of the current budgetary framework. Everyone will accept that this framework has, for many reasons of an international nature, radically changed from what it was only 12 months ago. I continue to examine how we might maximise the opportunities that exist in the context of developing our athletes as well as providing facilities for those of other countries. What is essential to most elite sportsmen and women is international competition. In Ireland we do not have facilities for major international competition. Most of our elite athletes, in any discipline, want to compete at the highest level and that requires them to be abroad quite a lot. When I was in China I learned that some athletes did no training in China. For example, China sent its cyclists to Switzerland. They were literally sent to Switzerland for the past four years to be involved and trained there, irrespective of the facilities. They were sent there so they could get the competition.

John O'Mahony (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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The opportunity presented to us by the 2012 Olympics will not present so close to us again. Despite the economic climate, we may not get this opportunity to develop our facilities again for some time. There is, therefore, a special case for advancing funding to do this. The Minister said that the Chinese team did all its training abroad. Why not let Ireland be the country where some of these teams do their training? I admit we do not have the facilities to stage international events, but developing facilities would benefit us through being a first step towards achieving that. That is important.

Martin Cullen (Waterford, Fianna Fail)
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I do not want to give the impression that whole teams were training abroad. I was talking about a specific part of a team. It was not because of lack of resources in China that it sent cyclists to train in Switzerland. The reason is that Switzerland is the centre of excellence in terms of training. Currently, we have cyclists involved in specific high level programmes in Europe. Even if we had the best facilities here, it would be pointless having those cyclists here because the competition and gathering of an international cohort working together lifts the standard for all of them. They need to be together to learn from each other and to compete and upgrade their standards. That is not to say we do not need some facilities here. We do, but the best training is a mix of the different aspects. I agree we should capitalise as much as we can on 2012.