Joe O'Toole (Independent)

The Minister touched upon one point I would love him to have developed, namely, that rugby plays an important role and delivers significant social benefits in terms of helping to provide our young people with a healthy and enjoyable outlet. I would not stand here and defend the reduction of a grant towards sports and leisure facilities in any part of Ireland – from inner city Dublin to Tory Island – because there is a social dividend in investing in sport.

This issue not just about representation for Connacht. That is important, but there is also the matter of providing people with an outlet through organised games. That is why the GAA, the IRFU, the FAI and all the smaller sporting groups are important; they provide a way for young people to express themselves in a positive, progressive way, rather than in a negative, damaging way.

This is a hugely important aspect of the debate and must be attached to every discussion about sporting activity. We often hear people interviewed on radio and television saying, "There is nothing for the kids to do around here." That is what this matter is about. We are pulling back further from the part of Ireland in question. Governments have thought it important enough at times to establish a ministry devoted to developing the west and we have passed legislation to develop infrastructure there. This issue has to be placed in that context. We should consider the Connacht rugby team as part of a wider picture.

Taxpayers' money is going to the IRFU. I accept that the IRFU must look after its own business and we should not interfere. However, if the Government is giving money to a national body, it does so with the clear understanding that the money is going to be invested throughout the nation as a whole. The money should not be given to one side of the country and taken away from another. I do not know how we get around this in practice, but it might be better if the Government simply allocated a certain amount of money to each of the four provinces.

There are things we can do and points that we can make. All sorts of suggestions were made to the GAA recently when people felt it was not sharing its assets with the nation. The same could be said of this matter and we should take a strong and clear view on it. It should be particularly important for public representatives from places other than Connacht to speak because this issue concerns everybody. This is about people standing together and making a judgment on what we need to do.