Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein)
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Question 9: To ask the Minister for Transport; Tourism and Sport the position regarding the developments at the sports campus at Abbotstown, Dublin; the further developments he intends to undertake there; and a timeframe for same. [1564/12]

Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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The Deputy's question relates to developments at the Sports Campus at Abbotstown in Blanchardstown in Dublin.

At its meeting on 21 June, the Government approved my proposals for the development of the National Sports Campus at Abbotstown in 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, which would include an indoor track. I am acutely aware of the difficulty of 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 some of the land. I have also asked the campus authority to continue to pursue the policy of developing elements of the development control plan in partnership with the GAA, FAI, 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 under the Fingal County development plan. I believe that Abbotstown House would benefit from having an anchor tenant and that the Irish Sports Council would be an ideal tenant in this regard. This matter is being examined by the NSCDA in consultation with the Irish Sports Council and the OPW.

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 is assessing tenders for the refurbishment of the former Marine Institute Building as the sports HQ and it is expected that work on the project will commence in February and will be completed prior to the end of the calendar year.

I take this opportunity to inform the House that 2011 was a record-breaking year for the National Aquatic Centre, which forms part of the campus, with visitor numbers totalling 825,051 which is an increase of 12.5% on the previous year.

Sandra McLellan (Cork East, Sinn Fein)
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Thank God the Bertie bowl did not go ahead. Is there a timeline with regard to the proposal that the Irish Sports Council might use it? In advance of the London Olympics have there been any discussion or confirmations of further teams which might use Abbotstown in preparation for the games?

Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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The Irish Sports Council is working from rented offices in Blanchardstown and it is proposed that it will move to Abbotstown House. No decision on this has been made for certain because we need to examine the house and work out how much it would cost to refurbish it so it would be able to take the Irish Sports Council. We must also work out when the lease where it is ends to ensure any move is value for money. It is a decision that should be made this year.

With regard to the London Olympics I am not aware of any additional teams which have agreed to take up training facilities at the Sports Campus. Quite a number will use the National Aquatic Centre which is very welcome. We have learned two things, the first of which is if we want teams to train here we must have the facilities, which we do in the National Aquatic Centre and the pool in Limerick but not when it comes to track and field events and gymnastics. We hope to change this by developing the Sports Campus. We also learned that cities in the UK gave cash incentives to teams to train there and the Minister of State, Deputy Ring, and I took the view that rather than spending €20,000 or €30,000 to entice the Tajikistan basketball team to come to a town in Ireland the money would be better spent on facilities and sports people in Ireland.

Jerry Buttimer (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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I welcome the Minister's reply and compliment him and the Minister of State, Deputy Ring. It is important that we put on the record spending €20,000 or €30,000 would have been a futile exercise and the Minister was correct in the approach taken. It is imperative that we develop the indoor facilities at Abbotstown as we lack these. We saw on the recent "Prime Time" programme that a water polo tournament will be held in the National Aquatic Centre which is being utilised to its maximum. It is an example of something the previous Government did well and I accept this. The Minister and Minister of State used common sense with regard to trying to bring people here. Those who are complaining about the Government's approach should read the reply to this question. The Minister and Minister of State with responsibility for sport are prepared to invest in the development of facilities. We should look at the long-term future rather than the 2012 London Olympics. It is important that we have a strategic plan for all sports.

Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Deputy for his comments and I agree with him wholeheartedly in this regard. I must be fair to the previous Government. I also agree with Deputy McLellan as I am also glad the Bertie bowl was not built. I do not think it was necessary as the Aviva is a great stadium, as is Croke Park. One thing the previous Government did was to build the National Aquatic Centre and notwithstanding the initial problems that occurred with the roof and some of the management-----

Dessie Ellis (Dublin North West, Sinn Fein)
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It leaked.

Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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-----it is an outstanding facility. In fairness to the previous Government it was a good decision and quite visionary to go ahead with the project when people were critical at the time.