John O'Donoghue (Kerry South, Fianna Fail)

I thank the Senators who contributed to this very interesting debate. It was mentioned that Ireland does not have a great record of success in the Olympic Games and the establishment of the sports campus at Abbotstown will be an important step in that respect. It will provide well-equipped sports facilities which will give our sportsmen and women the edge in preparation for international events in the future. However, sport is not all about winning medals. It was acknowledged more than once today that participation in sport contributes to physical and mental well-being.

Reference was made to the storm damage to the National Aquatic Centre in January 2005 when the roof of the swimming pool was damaged by high winds. Repair work on the centre was completed on 20 May 2005 and the centre reopened to the public immediately. The consulting engineers, Kavanagh, Mansfield and Partners, certified the repair work carried out. To date, no State expenditure has been incurred on this repair work. The cost of repairing the roof is a matter for the insurance company involved.

There were misleading media reports in 2005 about leaks at the aquatic centre. Arising from these reports, CSID arranged that Rohcon Limited, the company that constructed the centre, carry out an inspection. The inspection team conducted a technical examination of the entire centre, with particular reference to the structural integrity of the concrete works. The inspection team consisted of experts in the field. It was led by Rohcon and included S & P Architects, URS structural engineers, Europools specialists subcontractors, David Langdon PKS project managers and Kavanagh, Mansfield and Partners consultant structural and civil engineers. Rohcon found there was no evidence of any structural defects or of any water leaking into the plant room, despite what had been alleged in the media. Rohcon found some leakage in pipe joints and vales which, in its view, were operational rather than structural matters.

In addition, a test was carried out and confirmed that there were no leaks from the swimming pools. URS structural engineers confirmed that the concrete works were designed and constructed to meet the British Standard 8007. It confirmed that any cracks that existed were not leaking, were not of a structural nature and were entirely normal for a building of this type. If one were to tell that to people on the street, they would say it cannot be true. This is because they read in big, bold print that it was true, but they never read in big, bold print that it was not true. Let me repeat; it was not true. Rohcon published the results of its findings on 7 July. CSID received a separate report from its own structural engineers, Kavanagh, Mansfield and Partners, which supported the Rohcon findings, but these reports got little or no coverage in the media.

Kavanagh, Mansfield and Partners produced a report, in two sections, on the damage to the roof, namely, the schedule of the repair of the roof and the condition of the pool area. While public statements have been made about the findings contained in the report, it has not yet been put into the public arena because there were legal and contractual matters to resolve regarding the work on the National Aquatic Centre. That matter is now close to being resolved, so there is no reason not to make the report public. The report will be published at an early date.

Senator Quinn felt there was no need for a statutory authority and that a company would suffice. We are anxious that the body would be underpinned by legislation and this advice was given to us by the Attorney General. The statutory authority itself will hold land and will be charged with the spending of a considerable amount of State money. In the next four to five years, it is anticipated that the first phase will cost around €119 million and that has been agreed in my Department's capital envelope with the Minister for Finance. Much work is involved and it was felt that it would be better to proceed on the basis which I have outlined.

Senator Quinn was also concerned about the additional cost, but I can put his mind to rest. The authority will not involve any additional cost, over and above that required for the operation of the existing company. The Attorney General recommended putting the company on a statutory basis as a means of providing a better regulatory framework. This would provide a more accountable structure as the responsibilities and the functions of the authority would be clearly spelled out in legislation.

Senator Ryan and others raised the possibility of Lansdowne Road being used by the GAA. The pitch in Lansdowne Road currently measures125 m by 80 m and this is inadequate for major GAA games. The GAA has been advised of this. The new stadium at Lansdowne Road will be available to the GAA, should it suit the organisation to use it. A full GAA pitch measures 137 m by 82 m. Discussions have been held with the Ladies Gaelic Football Association and Cumann Camógaíochta na nGael and both organisations have indicated an interest in the option of using the new stadium.

Senator O'Toole mentioned that membership of the Houses of the Oireachtas, the European Parliament or local authorities disqualified an individual from membership of the board. This is currently a standard provision for membership of State agencies. While no express legal impediment to the appointment of a Deputy or Senator exists, the provision is in line with long-established practice.

On Committee Stage in the Dáil, the Bill was amended to treat the chief executive in the same manner as a member of the authority, committee or a director of a subsidiary. In other words, a chief executive would need to resign if he or she became a Member of the Dáil, Seanad, the European Parliament or a local authority. Senator Dooley, among others, referred to local authority membership. Some legislation, for example the Residential Tenancies Act 2004, requires people to cease to serve on boards upon attaining membership of a local authority. The provisions of the Health Act 2004 relate to members of boards and committees and not to staff. A section of the Personal Injuries Assessment Board Act 2003 relates to members of staff and the Taxi Regulation Act 2003 has a similar provision.

In this case I do not consider that it would be good practice to appoint members of local authorities to the authority. It might be best if the authority were to be removed from public life in so far as that is possible. The accounts of bodies, including the existing Bord na gCon and other similar boards, such as Horse Racing Ireland and presumably this authority, may be examined by a Dáil committee. The danger exists that the membership of the Dáil committee could include a member of the authority which was being examined or at least his or her colleagues might be examining the accounts of the authority concerned. The Attorney General has been of the view for many years that it is not desirable for a Member of the Houses of the Oireachtas to be a member of a statutory authority.

A number of speakers referred to the tragic early deaths of young sportspeople. The present phase of the development at Abbotstown will involve a facility to provide fitness and recovery areas and will be a centre for the development of sports medicine. In future years I would envisage the development of cutting-edge sports medicine knowledge which I hope in time will contribute to ruling out such tragic loss of young life.

Senator Mansergh and others mentioned the value and benefit of sport to young people in schools. I see the importance of encouraging young people into sport given all the other attractions available to them. While responsibility for the provision of facilities in national and secondary schools rests with the Department of Education and Science, applications from schools and colleges may be considered under the sports capital programme in circumstances where those facilities are made available to the wider community. This issue of encouraging schools to come together with local communities and sports clubs to develop sports facilities is being examined in the context of the development of a sports facility strategy by the Department.

Clearly sports facilities that are used during the day by schools and by the wider community in the evenings represent the best value for money. Of course issues regarding staffing, security, insurance and running costs need to be addressed. However, it is heartening that a close relationship already exists between schools and local sports clubs. The 2005 ESRI report on the participation of children and young people in sport, reported that 79% of post-primary schools and 90% of primary schools acknowledged some degree of help with facilities provided by local sports clubs. Two programmes specifically operated by the Irish Sports Council aim to encourage young people to participate insport.

We have made substantial progress in sport in recent years. I am particularly pleased that the amount of money we are now spending on sport has increased from approximately €17 million in 1997, when the Taoiseach first brought sport to the Cabinet table, to approximately €243 million in 2006. Since its statutory inception, the Irish Sports Council, which received funding of €13.7 million in 2000, has seen its funding increased to €40.09 million in the current year, which allows it to provide a service that was hitherto unknown here. We now have enhancement programmes for our elite athletes. We have a carding scheme, whereby our elite athletes are paid a certain amount each year to enable them to discharge their living expenses. The great oarsman, Sam Lynch, said that only in recent years has he been in a position to concentrate on his sport and not need to worry about who would pay the hotel bills.

This progress has been reflected in other areas of sport across the country. Senator Kieran Phelan and others mentioned the swimming pool programme. We have made considerable progress in recent years in this regard. In 2005 we spent approximately €14 million and this year we will spend approximately €32.3 million. We recently grant aided four new pools at Portarlington, Portlaoise, Longford and Thurles. We have also approved the contracts for six more pools. Last night I opened a new facility in Drogheda, County Louth, where we invested €3.8 million and the cost of the project was approximately €9 million. Further funding for the pool has been sought from the Department. The facility is a joy to behold and it expects approximately 200,000 visits in 2006 alone, which indicates the success of the programme.

For a small amount of money we are succeeding in building swimming pools and dry facilities in many towns. Unfortunately we cannot do so everywhere. It is estimated that a population of 20,000 within a five-mile radius is needed for a pool to be viable. I hope we can negotiate a new swimming pool programme to enable even more towns to avail of this programme. Regardless of which Government is in office, this is a worthwhile scheme, which is providing wonderful facilities for young and old people. Swimming like golf, at neither of which I am proficient, are sports in which people can participate from a young age to a relatively old age.

Several Senators, including Opposition spokespersons, mentioned the sports capital programme, which is highly successful. We are proud that since 1998 we have grant aided 5,600 different projects in every city, town, village and parish. Few members of our young population have not been positively affected by the programme. The spend has not been enormous.