Sheila Terry (Fine Gael)

The Minister of State will be very aware of Morton Stadium in Santry which is very close to his electoral area. Most Members will be aware of Morton Stadium as the venue where we have seen top athletes like Sonia O'Sullivan in many international events. It is the venue where all our young athletes aspire to compete but it is under serious threat at present as Fingal County Council proposes closing the stadium in January due to lack of funding from the Minister of State's Department.

In 1993 an agreement was made between Dublin County Council, Dublin City Council, Clonliffe Harriers and the Minister's Department. After the break-up of Dublin County Council it was agreed that Fingal County Council would manage the day to day running of the stadium, including maintenance, but funding would come from the sports section of the Department of Education, which has since become the Department of Arts, Tourism and Sport, as well as the Dublin local authorities. The Minister of State's Department was to pay one third of the ongoing running costs.

The Minister of State should explain why he has reneged on making those payments. The last payment received from the Department was in 1998, so its current bill stands at €277,525. We – and the stadium management – in Fingal County Council find it hard to take that, despite numerous letters and contacts requesting clarification on the issue, not even a letter has been forthcoming from the Department. This is shabby to say the least as Fingal County Council must cover the costs the Department has not paid. There are many other matters in which Fingal County Council could be engaged and people would not be pleased to know some works were not being done because of a lack of funding due to money being unavailable from the Minister of State's Department.