Kieran Phelan (Fianna Fail)

I am delighted to speak on the National Sports Campus Development Authority Bill 2006. This legislation has been brought forward by the Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism and I welcome it. The Bill will create a new national sports campus development authority, which will replace the existing company, Campus and Stadium Ireland Development Limited, known as CSID. The new national sports development authority will take over the job of overseeing, planning and developing a sports campus at Abbotstown, County Dublin.

As members of the arts, sport and tourism committee, I and my colleagues have heard various sporting organisations and experts tell us about the great benefit of having top-class sporting facilities. Not alone is it important to have great sporting facilities because of the great love of Irish people for a range of sports but also because sport has been shown in every study to be a healthy activity which should be promoted. The Minister, Deputy O'Donoghue, has said previously that the role of our great sports men and women in promoting sports and healthy living can have a great impact. This is very true.

Success at local, national or international level can help lift our communities. My local second level school, St. Fergal's in Rathdowney, County Laois, was successful in All-Ireland senior hurling and senior camogie this year. This will do more to help and promote these two sports in the local area than anything else. However, there must also be good facilities if we are serious about keeping our young people involved in sports. The work done by mentors and coaches on a voluntary basis is what has helped create many of the sports stars of today.

There is no doubt that our young people need role models and heroes who will inspire and encourage them. I am always delighted when GAA intercounty players take the time to visit under-age clubs and schools for various presentations. This inspires many young people to stay active in sport or to help with coaching and training or the administration of the local and national sports organisations.

Related to this issue is the need to give the necessary resources and funding to our sports organisations. I am happy with the very significant amount of funding the Minister, Deputy O'Donoghue, manages to secure for sports each year. Sports funding for 2006 exceeds €243.295 million. That is having a great impact on sport and I compliment the Minister on it. The funding provided for organisations and clubs throughout the country has been a fantastic help.

However, along with local facilities we need top-class national facilities, such as Croke Park and the National Aquatic Centre in Abbotstown. Top-class facilities mean that our best sportsmen and women can train, play or perform at the highest level here in Ireland. We should not be shy about saying we want top class sporting facilities throughout the country. With the Taoiseach at the helm priority will be given to sport and sports facilities. The Taoiseach is right in this approach. Like me, he comes from a sporting background and we know that every euro invested in youth facilities will yield a result in different ways.

I should mention what has been invested by this Government in sport since 1997. The total spend has been €750 million. Between 1998 and 2004, a total of almost €331 million was allocated to more than 4,721 projects throughout the country under the sports capital programme. In addition, 18 swimming pool projects have been completed in the past number of years. These were funded under the local authority swimming pools programme. Many more swimming pool projects are under way throughout the country, for example, in Portlaoise and Portarlington, County Laois.

Getting back to the Bill, I was glad to learn in November of last year that the Cabinet had decided to proceed with the development of phase 1 of the sports campus at Abbotstown over a five year period. Phase 1 of the plan will provide a national field sports training centre catering for rugby, soccer, Gaelic games and hockey; a national indoor training centre which will provide world class training facilities for more than 30 governing bodies of sport, such as badminton, basketball, bowling, boxing, judo and table tennis; accommodation for sportsmen and women; sports science and medical facilities; and all-weather synthetic pitches for community use. These will all be located at Abbotstown in addition to the existing National Aquatic Centre there.

The annual sports budget has increased from €17 million in 1997 to €243 million in 2006 and I commend the Minister and his colleagues in the Cabinet for this great investment. We have made considerable progress in bringing our sporting facilities into line with best international standards. I fully support the legislation before us today because this Bill, and the further development of sports facilities at the Abbotstown sports campus, will provide top of the range facilities for our sports stars of the future.

All involved in sport in this country hope that such developments and the provision of better sporting facilities will attract many more people into sport and indeed help us to keep existing sportsmen and women involved in it. Just as we demand the best facilities in our schools and sports clubs, we should also not be shy about calling for top class national facilities which are as good as in any other country. If we fail to invest at this high level, our top Irish sportsmen and women will have to look elsewhere. This would be a shame and the plans laid out to develop top-class facilities at Abbotstown will rival those available anywhere else in Europe or beyond.

The selection of London for the 2012 Summer Olympic Games can have benefits for Ireland. This is a great opportunity for us to have world class athletes training here before the Olympics and I hope that all the facilities in Abbotstown as laid out in the Government plan will be in place by then.

I fully support the Bill. I commend the involvement of the Minister for Agriculture and Food and the Minister for Finance for their support for this project; their Departments have been heavily involved with it. I look forward to the further development of the facilities at Abbotstown and believe strongly that this is the right decision to proceed with the sports campus. I also acknowledge the €191 million that has been provided for Lansdowne Road.