Martin Cullen (Waterford, Fianna Fail)

I thank Senator Keaveney for raising this matter on the Adjournment and for the opportunity to address the issues involved.

It is widely accepted that the benefits of sport have far-reaching positive consequences for society as a whole. Sport can transform lives, transcend borders and nationalities, bring people together, raise aspirations and build long and enduring friendships. Apart from the obvious health benefits associated with sporting participation, it can be one of the most effective antidotes to many of the social ills and attitudes that exist today. Values such as tolerance, self-discipline, team spirit and strength of character are demanded, practised and promoted.

It is appropriate that sport should be considered on an all-island basis and I am happy to say that there is already close North-South co-operation in this area. The Irish Sports Council and the Sports Council for Northern Ireland have an excellent ongoing working relationship and engage in several joint initiatives, such as the code of ethics and good practice for children's sport and the biennial all-island sports development conference. Many of the recognised national governing bodies of sport, including the GAA, also operate on an all-island basis. A high level all-island planning group, which includes the chairperson and chief executive of each council, meets regularly to ensure consistency of policy and practice in sports development. There is co-operation on such issues as research, development of high performance sport and anti-doping measures. The group ensures that there is no duplication of effort in planning and support for governing bodies of sport and individual athletes. The most recent meeting was held in Dublin in December 2008.

The national coaching and training centre has evolved into Coaching Ireland with an all-island remit and a clear focus to lead the development of coaching in Ireland. The coaching strategy for Ireland, which was launched in 2008, was developed in partnership with the Irish Sports Council and Sport Northern Ireland. The strategy was developed following an extensive consultation process with coaches, athletes, national governing bodies of sport and other relevant agencies. I fully support the constructive and positive level of co-operation which exists between the Irish Sports Council and Sport Northern Ireland as well as the all-island national governing bodies, in their efforts to promote and develop the various sports throughout the island of Ireland.

The North-South unit in my Department actively pursues opportunities to facilitate, strengthen and enhance North-South co-operation across the three sectors under my remit as Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism. The unit also monitors progress on specific initiatives or priority actions for North-South co-operation in the sectors in question. In considering any such initiatives, the overriding principle has been that they should offer clear and tangible benefits, North and South. The unit attends the various North-South co-ordinators' meetings as convened by the Department of Foreign Affairs and also liaises closely with the North-South Ministerial Council on relevant areas of interest. I attended a North-South Ministerial Council Plenary Meeting in Derry last month at which there was a wide-ranging discussion on areas of practical North-South co-operation. Several meetings have also taken place in the past year between officials of my Department and the Department of Culture, Arts and Leisure to discuss sporting issues of mutual interest.

I am very committed to pursuing continued North-South co-operation in the area of sport. Sport has a unique place in our society and the potential benefits of sport merit such co-operation.