Michael Kitt (Fianna Fail)

We have a ladies' football team whose members are all-Ireland champions and a few players on the international rules team. I have been a strong supporter of the idea of a national stadium and it never mattered to me where it was located. If it was to be Abbotstown that was well and good. We should be blunt about describing the circumstances in which we now find ourselves as a mess. What will happen with the remaining World Cup qualifying games while Lansdowne Road is being developed? It will be disappointing if we have to travel to Great Britain or another part of Europe to play our home games. I agree with other speakers who have said that without telling the GAA what to do, we must hope Croke Park will be opened to accommodate some of our soccer and rugby matches.

A trend I have noticed in recent years involves the lack of democracy in some of the bodies under discussion. It is very evident in the tendency of player power in the GAA — it does not involve the Minister of State — to push to take over in some counties. Cork was the first county in which players made this move and it looked as if they had a very good case. The Cork team are all-Ireland champions, which, I suppose, allows the players to justify what they did. Cork's was just one of many teams of players who felt they were not being treated fairly. Players have also used their power in the context of the appointment of managers and selectors in Offaly and other counties. This trend brings into focus the way in which certain organisations operate.

It is important to get young people interested in sport and it would be disappointing if the management involved at under-eight and under-ten level were not doing its job properly. The Department of Education and Science has published an excellent document on staying safe in sport which should be circulated to all sporting clubs. Sport should be a matter for the Department of Education and Science to discuss and not simply with reference to the question of winning for the sake of being the best in a county or parish. This is an important issue of which we should not lose sight. That sport is not simply about winning a medal or cup, but also about taking part, is something we recognise to a great extent. We must give credit to the sporting bodies which organise voluntarily the training, challenge matches and championship games which take place throughout the country at weekends and even midweek.

I thank the Chair for allowing me to say those few words and I thank the Minister of State for coming to the House. The issue under discussion is strongly related to health, whether it is sport for the young or the elderly. I hope we can find ways to look after minority sports which appear to have been forgotten. It is of great regret that the national stadium did not proceed as that was where minority sports could have been given a home and developed.