John O'Donoghue (Kerry South, Fianna Fail)

I am pleased to have the opportunity to speak on what is a most important sporting issue, namely, the decision of the Government to support the development of a sports stadium at Lansdowne Road and a sports campus at Abbotstown.

Tuesday, 27 January was a good day for Irish sport. Early last week, I was proud to announce that the Government had agreed to allocate substantial grant assistance in support of a joint Football Association of Ireland-Irish Rugby Football Union project to redevelop Lansdowne Road as a all-seated state-of-the-art stadium with a capacity of 50,000.

It was also my great pleasure to announce that the Government has agreed to proceed with the phased delivery of a sporting campus at Abbotstown. The decision on the stadium at Lansdowne Road has been arrived at following many years of hard work on the part of very many people. It has involved disappointment and some reversals along the way and there were some difficult times. Since becoming Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism, I have engaged in an extensive series of consultations with the major sporting bodies and with my ministerial colleagues on how best to address a widely acknowledged deficit in Ireland's sporting infrastructure, namely, inadequate quality stadium accommodation to house prestigious international sporting fixtures.

The FAI and the IRFU have been under pressure in recent times to provide acceptable stadium accommodation for their major international fixtures. In the case of the FAI at least, this had become an issue of immediate concern affecting its ability to host fixtures in the 2006 World Cup preliminaries in the country.

FIFA, the world governing body for football, had indicated to the FAI that temporary seating for Lansdowne Road would no longer be acceptable for international soccer events, creating the real possibility of preliminary round qualifying matches for Ireland's 2006 World Cup campaign having to be played outside Ireland. This was a scenario the Government was not prepared to countenance. The IRFU too needed to secure its international future at Lansdowne Road.

Lansdowne Road has, since 1872, served the needs of Irish rugby. Since 1982 it has been the home to Ireland's soccer internationals. However, arising from the needs of spectators both in terms of safety and comfort, the facilities at Lansdowne Road are no longer adequate for it to be a venue for major international fixtures.

The re-development of Croke Park into an 80,000 seat stadium, which is now nearing completion, has rightly been acclaimed as a magnificent achievement. However, this represents only one part of the jigsaw. Over recent months I have had ongoing contact with the sporting bodies and in my meetings with the IRFU, the FAI and the GAA, I found broad support among them for the proposition that two modern stadia were required, one capable of accommodating 80,000 spectators and one catering for 50,000 spectators.

It was in this context that the FAI-IRFU put forward their proposal for a 50,000 all seated stadium at Lansdowne Road. The concept is truly state-of-the-art. I am advised that this project is both deliverable and cost effective and is considered least likely to give rise to major planning difficulties. The estimated cost of this project is €250 million in current prices, which is likely to translate into actual outlays totalling just under €300 million as the project is realised over the next five years. Approved Government support is €167 million in current prices, which is expected to translate into cumulative outlays of just over €190 million over five years.

The new Lansdowne Road will be a 50,000 all seated stadium with a transparent roof covering the seats which will be built on the axis of the existing stadium at Lansdowne Road. The process of securing planning permission for the project will now commence. Subject to compliance with all planning requirements, it is hoped that the new stadium will be completed by 2008. It will meet all the current international standards for rugby and soccer and the pitch area will be of sufficient size to accommodate Gaelic games. The standard of the facilities will be broadly equivalent to those at Croke Park and will include about 64 corporate boxes and 8,000 premium seats as well as substantially improved back-of-house facilities both for players and spectators.

The design concept for the stadium at Lansdowne Road is imaginative and state-of-the-art. The design is similar to the one being used for the new stadium under construction at Oporto, Portugal, for the 2004 UEFA finals. Once built, the stadium at Lansdowne Road will be one of the most significant pieces of sporting infrastructure in the country. Thus, the Lansdowne Road re-development project is both visionary and timely. The decision is about ensuring immediate and effective support for the imaginative proposals of the FAI and IRFU to secure their international future. I have no doubt that the stadium decision has also strengthened the hand of the FAI in its dealings with FIFA relating to a continued derogation from meeting the all seated requirement for international soccer fixtures at Lansdowne Road.

I am confident that, with this decision, sport has been the winner. Without the support of the Taoiseach, last week's announcements on the Lansdowne stadium development and sports campus facilities at Abbotstown would not have been possible. The Taoiseach's vision for the creation of a modern sporting infrastructure has sustained the debate on how best to ensure that international sporting events can be staged in this country in state-of-the-art facilities in difficult budgetary conditions. The decision highlights the Government's commitment to the development of sport in the country.

I am also delighted with the decision of Government to agree to the development of a sports campus on the State-owned lands at Abbotstown. The National Aquatic Centre, which opened its doors last year, brought state-of-the-art swimming facilities to this country and was a widely admired and splendid location for the Special Olympics aquatic events in June last year and the European short-course swimming championships in December.

The Government has decided to endorse the phased delivery of a sporting campus at Abbotstown over a period of years. Campus and Stadium Ireland Development Limited will continue as the agency responsible for the delivery of the campus at Abbotstown. It is envisaged that funding will be provided on an annual basis for the phased delivery of the campus facilities. Earlier this week I met with the board of CSID and I asked it to provide me with a programme of phased developments at the State-owned lands at Abbotstown which will effectively accomplish a major transformation in the quality of Ireland's sporting infrastructure. I have looked for a phased and prioritised proposal, with a business plan and annual budgets in each case, which will deliver the component elements of the campus within a realistic timeframe by building on and updating the existing framework plan for the site in consultation with the various interested parties. CSID Limited will now initiate an assessment of the needs of Irish sport which can be provided in a campus, outline a business and sporting case for each facility and propose a timeframe and cost for each facility.

The scale of the site at Abbotstown is such that it can accommodate the requirements of sporting organisations for high quality pitches and training facilities for both amateur and ranking team sports which would be of benefit not only to major sports organisations, but also to some of our smaller sports whose need for modern facilities is very real. I have asked CSID to explore the potential for private sector investment, especially regarding the development of an indoor arena. A number of sporting organisations have already expressed an interest in relocating offices to Abbotstown, including the FAI which has said it is interested in selling its current headquarters in Merrion Square and moving there. I can also confirm that the GAA and the IRFU have indicated an interest in using what Abbotstown has to offer for the development of their sports.

The availability of centralised high quality sports development facilities will appeal, in particular, to smaller sporting bodies, many of whom depend largely on voluntary commitment. Medical and research facilities for elite athletes might be developed in partnership with one or more of the third level education institutions. All of this will give a further impetus to the work that the Irish Sports Council is doing to support our elite sportsmen and sportswomen.

This initiative is not a vague aspiration, but will be of lasting benefit to Irish sport. There is a real commitment on the part of the Government to a phased development of the sports campus project at Abbotstown. A clear Government decision has been taken and the work can proceed without further delay and without distractions.

We are bringing our national sporting infrastructure into the 21st century. Lansdowne Road is steeped in tradition and history and resonates with some of our great sporting successes. Our international sports of rugby and soccer will now have a platform on which they can showcase themselves and Ireland to the world and from which they can develop and build on the great progress they have made over the past 15 years, while the sports campus at Abbotstown will provide the training facilities and support for both amateur and ranking team sports.

These proposals, together with the investment which this Government continues to make in the development of our sporting infrastructure through the sports capital and local authority swimming pool programmes and in supporting the Irish Sports Council with its sports development programmes, are further evidence of our commitment to the development of sport in this country. It is our intention to see these facilities completed in a short timeframe so that all our people, both at competitive and recreational level, can enjoy sport in facilities which are modern, well equipped and well managed.