James Bannon (Fine Gael)

The electorate is singing "bye bye Government" and "bye bye Bertie". That is the message I hear as I travel up and down the country.

It is difficult to understand whether this motion is designed as a late attempt for Ireland to host the Olympic Games in 2012, or a pre-Olympic bid to attract visitors and athletes attending the Olympic Games in London to Ireland. It may be the usual Government spin, calculated to confuse and cover up its continual ineptitude and financial mismanagement. I join with my colleagues, Senators Feighan and Phelan, in strongly criticising the €7 million reduction in funding under the sports capital programme for 2005. That is a reduction of 13% on last year, a fact conveniently submerged in this trumpet-blowing motion. As we know, empty vessels make the most noise and lame duck Governments produce the most spin.

The National Aquatic Centre fiasco allied with the electronic voting machine fiasco and the PPARS fiasco, to name but a few, make us fully aware of the Government's financial mismanagement track record. One could almost say there was something poetic and appealing about water dripping through a collapsing swimming pool roof, were it not for the fact that the pool in question has been paid for by the taxes of the hard-working citizens of this country.

The main point of this fiasco is that the simplest question has never been answered by any Minister of this Government, nor did the Minister answer it today. Why was Waterworld UK, a company with virtually no assets and no trading record, selected to run the Abbotstown Aquatic Centre? A total of €62 million has gone down the drain, or perhaps one should say it has dripped into the pool. The only answer possible from my perspective is that it is just one item in the appalling trail of financial disasters which will long be remembered as the hallmark of this Government.

The country's leading sports organisations are becoming increasingly concerned about the Government's delaying tactic in signing off on the national sports centre of excellence also proposed for Abbotstown. That was agreed in principle at Cabinet level last year. Is this yet another broken promise by the Government?

In order for Ireland's elite sports people to compete on a level playing field with their international rivals, they need a national training centre such as that envisaged for Abbotstown. Such a facility could also be a draw to Olympic teams to train in this country and attract some of those travelling to the Olympic Games in London, which would be of great benefit to the Irish economy. However, an empty promise will attract no one and will do nothing for our own top athletes.

No country of comparable wealth gives as little to sporting provisions. Our facilities are non-existent in an international sense and it is amazing to see how well our sports teams have performed on the world stage, despite Government neglect. This motion, which is as self-congratulatory as we have come to expect, lauds the Government's commitment to funding for sports and recreational facilities. The people in my constituency of Longford-Westmeath, who have waited many years for a new and safe swimming pool, should be informed of that. It was promised in 1997, the year that was the start of the world as we know it according to the wording of this motion. The Government would have us believe that year was the start of eight years of plenty for sporting organisations. The figures and facts prove otherwise.

The pool in Longford town is a relic of the 1960s, and if it stands as a monument to Government support for sports and leisure facilities it makes a certain mockery of the claims of this motion. Currently more than 12 sporting organisations throughout Longford-Westmeath are awaiting funding necessary for their facilities. Will the Minister make an announcement on the situation with regard to funding for Longford's swimming pool? It is omitted from the list of 15 projects detailed in the Minister's reply.