Alan Farrell (Dublin Fingal, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

I thank the Ceann Comhairle for selecting this matter, which deserves attention within the Departments of Transport, Tourism and Sport and Health, for discussion. It relates to the proposed Lusk community 2020 sports plan. This is a community-based collaborative effort involving representatives of local sporting groups and the support of local primary and secondary schools in Lusk, north County Dublin, to put in place a long-term plan the objective of which is to improve the health of members of the local community. In essence, this is a local public health strategy focused on sport and physical activity that will benefit everyone in the town and its environs.

In coming together, local sports organisations, the community council and schools have worked to develop a strategy by which they can prioritise their needs and pool their resources to ensure the maximum impact and benefit in the community. The initiative is ambitious. The approach examines the demographics of the local community and carries out a sporting needs analysis or assessment. By taking demographics into account on a localised basis, the project allows for a focus to be placed upon increasing participation in sport and physical activity in line with population growth and the demographic characteristics of Lusk and its environs.

Fingal is the fastest-growing local community according to the past three censuses and has the youngest age demographic in the State. The approach outlined in the plan could have remarkable benefits for towns and villages throughout the country. It could allow for the identification and prioritisation of sporting infrastructure and investment to meet the needs of residents, while ensuring that resources are provided to allow all age groups to engage in sport and physical activity. In the case of Lusk, the sport needs analysis has allowed for the identification of priority sporting facilities required to serve the needs of the people in the town and surrounding communities. Once developed, these facilities will be available for other local sporting clubs and organisations as well.

The project has received a great deal of support from Fingal County Council. The local authority will be transferring land to Lusk 2020 for the development of a sports hub in the community. This will be an important advancement of the overall strategy. While it is positive to see the local authority supporting Lusk 2020, I believe there is also an opportunity for the Government to assist the local community in achieving the goals set out in the plan. I call on the Minister of State to review the documents relating to Lusk 2020. I would be more than happy to supply these to him. Furthermore, I call on the Minister of State to examine the investment opportunities which may be open to Lusk 2020 and how the Government can best assist those involved to realise their objective of promoting the uptake of sport and physical activity as part of a healthy lifestyle for members of the local community of all ages. I imagine that, upon examination, the Minister of State will identify the innovative nature of Lusk 2020 and how it can provide a template upon which similar strategies could be developed for local communities throughout the State. The Lusk 2020 plan is a prime example of people in local communities putting the needs and the health of the entire community to the fore of the agenda.

I am pleased to support Lusk 2020 and I commend all those involved in bringing the project this far. Most importantly, I am keen to mention by name a former councillor, John Paul Browne, who recently resigned from Fingal County Council to pursue other ventures. In any event, his work on this project, along with that of dozens of other people in my constituency, was excellent. I hope the Minister of State will assess this project with a view to the potential collaboration or use of this programme as a template throughout the State.

Patrick O'Donovan (Limerick County, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

I apologise for being late. I had understood my issue was the third to be taken. I apologise to the Ceann Comhairle for delaying the proceedings.

On my behalf and on that of the officials in my Department, I wish to extend my sympathy to my colleague, the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport, Deputy Ross, on the passing of his mother, Ruth Isabel Ross. This is the first opportunity I have had to say as much in the House. As the Minister of State with responsibility for sport, I wish to formally extend my sympathies to the family of Anthony Foley family on his passing. Go ndéana Dia trócaire orthu.

I welcome the opportunity to respond to Deputy Farrell's topical issue on Lusk 2020. In recent years, there has been a certain level of engagement between sports partnerships, the Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport and local communities. This is something we are trying to continue, build on and develop. I compliment Fingal County Council on the manner in which it has embraced this process in recent years through initiatives undertaken by the council as well as with local sports partnerships throughout the country.

There is an important aspect to this from the point of view of the Dáil and the Oireachtas in general. Many Members will be keen to ensure that projects are included in the sports capital programme for 2017 and they have been pressing me on the matter. I will be announcing details shortly in this regard. Deputy Farrell is correct about the importance of the sports capital programme and the investment that can be achieved through working with local initiatives such as the project in Lusk. A bottom-up approach is far more palatable and desirable than asking Sport Ireland or the Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport to do everything. Local initiatives and partnership-based models are the way to go. Only last week I launched a report at the sports campus in Abbotstown on the effectiveness of the sports partnership model. There are opportunities for local communities throughout the country to engage more with their local authorities as well as for local authorities to do more. Some local authorities are exemplary in this regard and really engage with their local communities when it comes to providing a holistic plan and developing a strategy.

Deputy Farrell asked me to examine documentation for Lusk 2020. I would welcome the opportunity to receive the information in the Department and review it. In recent years, a good deal of money has been allocated to local sports partnerships. In the past year in excess of €5 million was allocated by my Department to sports partnerships. This is not an insignificant amount and we are keen to ensure we get the best result from it. Since 2011 we have had three different allocations of sports capital. This has resulted in significant investments being made outside of the main capital programme, which we also hope to revise in 2017. Using this mechanism, I will be seeking significant investment in major infrastructure of a sporting nature at national and regional level. I agree with the remarks of Deputy Farrell in this regard. There is also an opportunity for organisations to work collaboratively with the local authorities. Local authorities that are reflective of their local communities in developing these projects have been far more successful. I am keen to empower, encourage and stretch sports partnerships to deliver even more in their local areas. An opportunity exists in this regard and this example may well prove to be exemplarily to other areas in the country as a model to study and emulate. I am keen to see what Lusk 2020 is proposing and I welcome the opportunity of bringing the documentation before the Department.

Alan Farrell (Dublin Fingal, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

I very much welcome what the Minister of State, Deputy O'Donovan, has had to say. I imagine the community-based activists involved in this programme will be thrilled to hear his encouraging remarks. The material was written up and prepared well in advance of the budget and was not contingent on it. Regardless, the sports capital grant announcement from the Minister of State is most welcome.

We are very pleased nationwide, and particularly in some of the clubs in my constituency that might have missed out in the past. This is almost a regional idea because the environs of the community of Lusk are significant, including towns such as Rush and Skerries. A plan to build a soccer stadium in Lusk in the mid-noughties, which would have been of great benefit to the community, unfortunately fell by the wayside. Programmes to encourage young people to involve themselves in sporting activities and keep up reasonable fitness levels are very important at a time when unfortunately young people after college or university tend to drop out of sport at an incredible rate. If a facility or facilities are provided, they encourage people to get involved.

Significant sums of money have been allocated by the Department of Education and Skills to a brand new secondary school in Lusk in the past week and a new primary school in the nearby community of Rush. The culmination of the Lusk 2020 scheme and the Minister of State’s proposals to consider this and to roll out funding through the sports capital grants and the regional grants provide great opportunities for us to use this as a template nationwide and I would certainly encourage that.

Patrick O'Donovan (Limerick County, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

In every community there are challenges. The challenges in Lusk might relate to the size of the community but in rural areas very small communities find it difficult to bring forward the amount of assistance required to make up the 15% that is needed in many cases for the grant aid to be drawn down. The Ceann Comhairle and other Deputies are aware that a tightly knit community might have very difficult hurdles to jump in coming up with the initial seed capital whereas the communities Deputy Farrell refers to, the enormous sprawling urban communities, have a different challenge which in the first instance involves building the community and bringing people together. That is where I see the sports partnership as critical. The leadership provided within the local authority and the sports partnerships plays an important role in that because much of the work Deputy Farrell refers to involves building community and the capacity to enable communities to apply for funding, whether through their Leader company or through the Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport, the national lottery or whatever.

The Deputy is right about participation and I have made clear since my appointment as Minister of State in this Department that my primary concern is not in respect of large edifices or Ceauşescu-like monuments as someone once described them, but facilities to encourage people to participate at whatever level suits them, regardless of their ability and of their stage in life, whether young or not so young. In developing this programme, it is important that I maximise the amount of money we can spend and the impact. I welcome any opportunity to review any documents from any part of the country in this regard.