Maurice Cummins (Fine Gael)

I welcome the Minister to the House. I fully support the idea of sport for all and the provision of proper facilities for sportspeople. The development of sports campus Ireland is certainly significant. There is no doubt that Ireland lags some way behind many of its competitors in the provision of training facilities and coaching expertise for our elite and emerging athletes. Ten or 12 years ago, when I was president of the FAI schoolboys and youth committees, I visited countries that were poorer than Ireland and saw the wonderful facilities they had for their sportspeople. When I went to France, I visited a development in Clairefontaine for athletes of various sports and noted that it is an example for all. I therefore welcome the establishment of the National Coaching and Training Centre in Limerick, the National Aquatic Centre in Abbotstown, the National Rowing Centre in Inniscarra and the hockey arena in UCD, to name but a few. These have certainly been positive and the Minister would agree that much more sports infrastructure is required.

Senator Dooley raised the issue of sudden cardiac arrest among sportspeople. This has happened on a number of occasions and there was an incident in this regard only last night. Our thoughts go out to the parents of the man who died and all those involved with the club concerned. Research in the area of sports medicine should be considered and funded, be it through the Department of Health and Children or the Department of Arts, Sport and Tourism. There is no doubt that sports capital grants have made a tremendous difference to many sports clubs throughout the country and we welcome them.

Senator Kieran Phelan stated that Ireland may benefit from the hosting of the Olympic Games in the United Kingdom in 2012. I hope all our facilities will be in place by then and that they can serve as showpieces for competitors from other countries who may wish to base themselves here prior to the games.

Although I welcome the Bill, it must be placed in the context of a longer-term national plan or vision for the development of elite sport in Ireland. The campus, when developed, must be regarded as part of our overall national sports infrastructure and not as an end in itself. It should be linked to the National Training and Coaching Centre in Limerick and other designated regional centres so all our elite athletes and those with potential, including pupils in primary and post-primary schools, will have access to the training facilities, coaching personnel and other supports they require within a reasonable distance from their homes.

We welcome the development of the Waterford Regional Sports Centre, which the local authority developed in 1979 without very much funding. The funding has increased significantly in recent times and a private developer has been commissioned to help provide the facilities. This is the way we should develop similar regional centres.

Other countries have dedicated schools for exceptionally talented students. Ireland is probably too small to go down this route but it can provide a better structure to nurture talent. Thus, better supports would be provided at local and regional levels. Talented young people cannot travel around the country on a regular basis to gain access to the services they need and it is very important, therefore, that we develop regional centres in addition to the site at Abbotstown.

We support a spatial strategy for the provision of sports facilities to nurture elite sportspeople. We need to establish one-stop shops at local level where sportspeople can receive coaching, regular monitoring of training, information on nutrition and, especially, advice on how to balance sport and other activities so as not to impede opportunities to earn a living that may arise at the conclusion of their careers in sport. In this regard, we could all learn from countries such as the Netherlands, where elite athletes are provided with a structured support system that ensures there is suitable employment at the other end of what is often only a few years at the elite end of sport. The Dutch manage to do this by encouraging companies to adopt elite sportspeople. There is a payback for both the companies and the athletes in such a system and it should be encouraged in Ireland through modest changes in the tax system.

Senator Quinn made a point on which I would welcome the Minister's response, namely, the need for a statutory authority rather than a limited company to run sports campus Ireland. Perhaps the Minister will deal with this in his response to the debate. Senator Quinn felt very strongly about it.

Senator Dooley touched on the exclusion of local authority members from serving on boards, an issue which also arose in respect of the Road Safety Authority Bill. I cannot understand the logic of excluding local authority members in legislation such as that under discussion. Oireachtas Members are excluded but one should consider the position of members of local authorities who are involved voluntarily with sports bodies throughout the country and who give so much of their time and are experts in their various spheres. The exclusion of local authority members from boards seems to be arising in one Bill after another. I do not know whether there is a witch-hunt on the part of officials from various Departments against local authority members to exclude them or if it is a drafting issue that has come into being where every local authority member is seen as not worthy of being a representative on such bodies. Members on the other side of the House share that view, particularly in regard to the Road Safety Authority Bill. The Minister considered it but could not change it at that late stage. I ask the Minister to examine that because I am aware he knows many local authority members from his side of the House and from other parties who are actively involved in sports and would be qualified to sit on such an authority. I hope he will introduce an amendment on Committee Stage removing this section which excludes local authority members.