Jim Walsh (Fianna Fail)

I will not say very much more because Senator O'Toole has outlined the position well. There has been huge investment in sporting arenas. I hope that further investment will be made in the not too distant future. It is appropriate that they should have all the commercial underpinning necessary to make them viable. If one goes to places such as Old Trafford and sees the way it has been developed to provide facilities at different times and functions, it shows that the overall use of such a facility, which is a huge capital investment, is well underpinned. We should aspire to have those type of facilities here. The organisations that displayed courage in making investments should be supported.

It was totally unacceptable that, in the past, small sports clubs in rural areas were governed by the same rules as designated national sporting arenas. The Minister is to be commended for recognising this anomaly and correcting it.