Labhrás Ó Murchú (Fianna Fail)

There is no doubt the decision Senator Buttimer referred to last week has certainly become part of the folklore of Seanad Éireann. It will probably be debated and discussed for a long time to come. We will not make any progress in that regard this morning and we will deal, therefore, with the actual amendments before us.

Senator Buttimer is quite right that sport is vital to the well-being of a community. Of this there is no doubt. "Sport" is a very broad term and many of us realise that it is very much a commercial business. I sometimes regret this because I am often very dissatisfied that, if a team at a certain level does not do well, we call for the head of the manager straight away. This is a side to sport that unfortunately has come to the fore. There is also pressure put on those who represent us in the Olympic Games.

At Oireachtas committees, I have often stated there is much to be said for the old-fashioned approach to sport, which involves doing one's very best, for the honour of the little village if that is what one is representing. I genuinely hope we will return to this approach because I have seen people who have been made absolute wrecks as a result of the pressure put on them by the media and others.

The Minister of State has made it quite clear that a tax law has an implication in respect of these amendments. That is ultimately a matter for the Revenue Commissioners. If there is a tax law implication and we proceed along the lines proposed, we will have to revisit the legislation. The Minster of State said from day one that it was not a matter of expanding out of all recognition what is already in place regarding charities but that it was a matter of copperfastening the legislation already in place. Organisations with charitable status will continue to have such status under the new regulatory authority. We all welcome this because it immediately does away with a whole line of applicants. It also takes the pressure off the many existing charities in terms of their having to comply with whatever is necessary in the application process.

The advice the Minister of State has given on tax law implications is important. It would be wrong of us to detract and distract from existing charities by including large commercial bodies as if they, too, were charities.