Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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120. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport the extent to which he expects to be in a position to assist the Irish Rugby Football Union, in its bid to attract the women’s rugby world cup to Ireland, with particular emphasis on the promotion of the national image, and culture, through the medium of sport; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [9926/15]

Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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This question emphasises the importance of attracting major international sporting events to this country, thereby projecting a positive image of the country and promoting the sport.

Michael Ring (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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Before answering the question I wish to announce to the House that the Minister and I have secured €40 million for a new round of the sports capital programme which I will announce after Question Time today. This is the third round of the programme. Fine Gael and the Labour Party in government were committed to two rounds. I am delighted that we have secured €40 million for many sporting organisations throughout the country.

Timmy Dooley (Clare, Fianna Fail)
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Will that be effected by way of a Supplementary Estimate?

Michael Ring (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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No. I am delighted that the IRFU has submitted a bid to host the women's rugby world cup in 2017. I understand that, if the bid is successful, the IRFU proposes to host the tournament pool stages at University College Dublin, UCD, with the semi-finals and final in Belfast. I am confident that Dublin would be a great host for the games, that the public would support the event and make it a very memorable world cup.  I wrote to the IRFU in recent weeks expressing my support and the full support of the Department and agencies. Hosting the women’s rugby world cup would provide a great opportunity to showcase the island of Ireland internationally. 

The programme for Government made a commitment that event tourism would be prioritised to continue to bring major events to Ireland. This provides a great showcase for Ireland and can drive international visitor numbers. Media coverage of sports events helps to put Ireland onto travel itineraries as a holiday destination. The Government is continuing to support the ongoing efforts of the tourism agencies and the national governing bodies of sport to attract international events.

 I am very hopeful that the IRFU's bid will be successful. This, along with the recent successful bid to host part of the UEFA Euro 2020 tournament at the Aviva stadium, means that sport will be playing a major part in promoting our national image abroad over the next few years. Successful hosting of the women’s rugby world cup here in 2017 would also help boost Ireland’s reputation in the bid to host the Rugby World Cup in 2023.

Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Minister of State for the extensive reply and the positive announcement as well. Will he be in a position himself or through the Department to assist in the plan to attract the women’s rugby world cup to Ireland through the negotiations taking place? To what extent are the negotiations held to date likely to succeed? Is anything further required to be done to make amenities and facilities available or are they adequate?

Michael Ring (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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Fáilte Ireland is assisting with the bid. If we could get the women’s rugby world cup to come to Ireland it would be a great showcase for the country. It would also help us secure the 2023 Rugby World Cup.

We have the facilities for the event. They propose to hold it at UCD. The semi-final and final will be held in Belfast. It would be a great occasion for the country. The people of Ireland would support the women’s rugby world cup.

When I was made Minister of State, one of my priorities to make sure women were given every opportunity to participate in sport. In 2011, we gave €141,000 for women in sports funding through the Sports Council.

In 2012 we gave €120,000, while in 2013 and 2014 we gave €114,000. We gave grants of €887,000 to high performers to get them prepared for the women's rugby sevens internationals in Rio. We are supporting women's rugby in every way because it needs to be supported as well as men's rugby. Women in sport have to be supported in every way we can.

Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Minister for his comprehensive reply and wish him and the IRFU well in their agenda. Will it be possible to promote the image of the country as a sporting nation through this medium? I hope it will. This will benefit us from the point of view of tourism and economics because it will show this country's ability to relate to other countries in sport and add thereby to our economic position.

Michael Ring (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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As I said to the Deputy, the programme for Government gave a commitment to try to host major sporting events. The Deputy is correct that it brings people into the country who might otherwise not come. Statistics have shown that people who have come to this country for sporting events have come back for holidays at a later stage. We are good at a number of things in this country and one of our best things is our people. When people come here we give them a good Irish welcome and they certainly know they are in the country. If there is one thing our people can do, it is be hospitable, and they can talk and sell a message. We have the scenery, the beauty and the infrastructure, and in the past four years we have increased the tourism figures in very difficult times. Last year was the best year ever for people coming from North America. That creates badly needed jobs and revenue as almost 220,000 are employed in tourism in every corner of the country. People talk about rural decline but this is one way we can get people here. We have the natural infrastructure in rural Ireland and we must also continue with developments like the greenways, the Wild Atlantic Way and other such walks.

Timmy Dooley (Clare, Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Minister of State for his announcement on the assignment of the €40 million. Will he confirm to the House that he will revert to the process which was in place prior to his entry into office? In this process departmental officials carried out the initial validation and the scoring. Most important, to ensure independence, departmental officials assigned the money to the projects rather than the way it is done in the system the Minister of State has introduced since he came to office, in which the money has been assigned by him and his political staff.

Dessie Ellis (Dublin North West, Sinn Fein)
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Ba mhaith liom tacaíocht a thabhairt d'fhoireann rugbaí na mban leis an iarratas seo agus ba mhaith liom comhghairdeas a ghabháil leo as an mbua a bhí acu i gcoinne Sasana in Ashbourne an lá faoi dheireadh. Tá súil agam go mbeidh an tAire Stáit ábalta cuid den €40 milliún a thabhairt d'fhoireann rugbaí na mban san am atá le teacht.

Michael Ring (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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I confirm to Deputy Dooley that I stand over the way the sports capital programme has been implemented, unlike the way it was done by his party.

Timmy Dooley (Clare, Fianna Fail)
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I am sure the Minister does.

Michael Ring (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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As the media has reported, it will be done on a per capitabasis, as it has been done in the past two years. There has been no scandal and no problems with sports capital.

Timmy Dooley (Clare, Fianna Fail)
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In what way will it be done?

Michael Ring (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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I will do it like I did it in the previous two rounds. There will be no change. It will be done on a per capita basis and I will ensure every county gets its fair share of the national cake. I will take it from the counties favoured by Ministers of the Deputy's party when they were in power and I will give it to the counties which have not done well in recent years. When we have corrected this imbalance, we will look at the situation again.