Timmy Dooley (Fianna Fail)

I join with other Senators in welcoming the Minister to the House. I also welcome the Bill. While I share some of the sentiments expressed by Senator Quinn on the establishment of State authorities, on many occasions in the past I criticised the establishment of such authorities, particularly the NRA and the HSE. Often, we devolve responsibility away from the political environment and yet, politically, we are held accountable.

However, in this instance we need to devolve away from the political environment. In my view the involvement of various political parties has brought about the sad situation whereby today we will not discuss the development of the national stadium proposed at the outset of this legislation. Perhaps in the future the authority to be established by this Bill will request from the State certain clearances and finance to consider the development of a national stadium on this site.

Many of the arguments advanced on the other side clearly show the necessity to continue to spend on sporting activities. I congratulate the Minister and his officials on the investment in sports since he came to office, the successive sports capital programmes in which he was involved and the money he continues to invest.

The Minister takes a strategic approach to investment and it is not only about responding to applications. He examines the core and basic facility requirements of various clubs and tries in so far as he can to ensure every club is brought to a base level of facilities before others advance to a higher level. Investment has brought advances in various sports. The Minister's investment in community and regional facilities which are not sport-specific is welcome. On a parochial level, the investment made by the Department through the sports capital programme in the Lees Road facility in Ennis comes to mind.

A number of Senators discussed the necessity of municipal facilities and the Lees Road facility is a fine example of such, with various playing pitches, all-weather facilities and, hopefully, with the Minister's ongoing support a running track in the not too distant future. Such facilities provide a great level of service to the many growing towns we now have. The issue of the lack of green space and facilities as a result of planning decisions in growing county towns is raised. Municipal parks which cater for an array of sporting activities with shared car parking and dressing room facilities is the way to go. The Minister's promotion of these has been most welcome and we must continue to fund them.

The sports campus development authority, which this Bill will establish, is an important part of the Minister's strategic approach to the development of sport. It is a twin-track approach as it targets amateur sport and improving professionalism including the scientific approach to sport. Up to now, we have not seen that strategic approach from central government. The promotion of sporting excellence will contribute to participation. We all recognise the important role that amateur sports play in terms of participation at local level. The growth of soccer and the popularity of the Premiership in England encourages young people to get involved in the sport. By creating professional streams in sports suited to it we will see a greater level of participation.

Participation in sport is necessary because even clubs in rural areas which have not experienced a fall in population find it difficult to field teams. Two local rival clubs must come together to be in a position to field a team. Through the funding put in place by the Minister, we have better facilities than ever before. However, we see a decline in participation which must be examined and addressed by the authority and Irish Sports Council working together.

It is also critical that smaller sports are catered for and I know the Minister intends to do so in this campus. It will be of great help to them because they may not have the facilities in their own locations to make advances. Sharing the services the authority intends to provide will be helpful. For example, sports medicine is a critical component of modernising sport, particularly in terms of professionalism. Comments were made during the Order of Business today about cardiac failure in young people who participate in sports. Any research done in sports medicine will be welcome to both amateur and professional sports. We all want to see that happen. The campus will provide various sporting activities access to specialist research in training methods. That will benefit all concerned.

It is disappointing our discussions on the Bill will not include consideration of the development of a new stadium. Perhaps the Minister will be able to address the issue on a future date. On a specific point, section 18 lists people who will be excluded from membership of the authority, including Members of either House of the Oireachtas, the European Parliament and local authorities. It is right that Members of both Houses of the Oireachtas and the European Parliament should be excluded from involvement in any State authority. However, I do not believe members of local authorities should be excluded. The role of a councillor is unique because of his or her involvement in local sports partnerships and the delivery of services through local authorities. Councillors could bring a useful insight to the authority. I am not requesting a legislative prescription that a councillor must be appointed to the board but that councillors not be excluded from participation on the board by virtue of their being members of a local authority. Will the Minister examine section 18 with a view to amending the existing provision in this regard? There is a very good reason Members of both Houses of the Oireachtas or the European Parliament should not be excluded, but there is a special case for not excluding councillors, particularly because of their involvement in the delivery of services on the ground through the sports partnership programmes. Councillors from both Ennis Town Council and Clare County Council pioneered the very fine Lees Road sports and amenity park through their involvement with local communities and their insight into what was needed on the ground. I appeal to the Minister to consider this, perhaps before Committee Stage.

I welcome the Bill. It provides a very useful framework for dealing with the development of sport at one remove from the game of politics, the latter of which scuppered what would have been a flagship project for this country, not just on the national stage but also on the world stage. I hope that, in this instance, the national sports campus development authority will set itself apart in delivering badly-needed facilities in a non-politicised environment.