John Browne (Wexford, Fianna Fail)
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Question 9: To ask the Minister for Transport; Tourism and Sport the current status of the developments at the Sports Campus in Abbotstown, Dublin; and the further developments he intends to undertake there. [33447/11]

Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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This questions relates to the national sports campus. At its meeting on 21 June the Government approved my proposals for the development of the national sports campus at Abbotstown-Blanchardstown on an incremental basis. In particular, I have asked the National Sports Campus Development Authority, NSCDA, to proceed with the development of a national indoor training arena, to include an indoor track. I am acutely aware of the difficulty in securing capital funding from the Exchequer because of the financial difficulties facing the Government. I have, therefore, asked the campus authority to explore other avenues of funding such as philanthropy and-or the sale of land.

I have also asked the authority to continue to pursue the policy of developing elements of the development control plan in partnership with the GAA, the FAI, the IRFU and Irish Hockey Association. As provided for in section 7(8) of the National Sports Campus Development Authority Act 2006, the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine is arranging for the transfer of the land to the NSCDA.

Abbotstown House is a protected structure in the Fingal county development plan. I believe the house would benefit from having an anchor tenant and that the Irish Sports Council would be an ideal tenant in this regard. I have asked the campus authority to consider this suggestion and come back to me with proposals for the future use of the house.

In parallel with the core national sports campus project, the campus authority is also continuing its strategy of redeveloping and refurbishing existing buildings on the Abbotstown site for use by the wider sporting community, in particular the national governing bodies of sport. The OPW has approved tender documentation for the refurbishment of the former Marine Institute building as the sports headquarters and it is expected that a contract will be awarded before year end. Work on this project is scheduled to take approximately six months to complete.

Timmy Dooley (Clare, Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Minister for his comprehensive reply. While the national sports campus would be an effective flagship project for the development of sports facilities, it must be recognised that sports bodies and sporting endeavours in various communities need the continued support of the Government. Is there any hope the sports capital programme will be reinstated in the coming year?

Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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The sports capital programme announcement will be made tomorrow. This budget line is the responsibility of the Minister of State, Deputy Ring, and I am sure there will be information on it tomorrow.

The amount of Exchequer funding for the national sports campus is small. Given the state the country is in, we cannot put millions of euro into the project. We are, therefore, pursuing philanthropy and the sale of lands. In some cases, we are receiving co-operation from national governing bodies, some of which have their own resources. For example, many of the smaller sports organisations rent offices in Park West and will move to the new accommodation in Abbotstown to save money. We are also in discussions with Dublin GAA, the FAI and the IRFU on how we could, in partnership, develop training grounds on the campus. It is my intention to proceed with the project. There will not be stadiums and so on, while the commitment on the part of the taxpayer will be small.