Cecilia Keaveney (Fianna Fail)

I thank the Minister of State, Deputy Áine Brady, for her attendance. To declare an interest, I am president of the Youth and Sports Committee of the Council of Europe and I ask why a country so interested in sport has not signed up to the Enlarged Partial Agreement on Sport, EPAS. People regularly argue that we are losing too much control on issues of importance to the EU. Membership of EPAS, because of its Council of Europe mantle, affords us the opportunity to enhance our influence and express our views as a country on sport.

The existence of an intergovernmental body such as the EPAS ensures states retain the initiative on issues they do not want to entrust to a supranational body such as the European Commission while retaining the strength of numbers on sporting issues that need to be addressed. The Lisbon treaty demands that agencies work together. As a Council of Europe member, I see the input that we as nationally elected politicians have. To leave all decisions to the European Commission does not always serve our national uniqueness. I equate joining the EPAS with enhancing Ireland's power as a country, not the hand of Europe.

The majority of Senators in the House have not heard of the EPAS, aside from the fact of my being on the Council of Europe, or the important work in which it engages on behalf of its 33 member countries. That is why I wish to inform the House in this matter. The EPAS covers the following essential policy aspects of sport: maintaining law and order, promoting public health, and the educational and social benefits of sport. Each of these is especially relevant to the sporting environment in Ireland today. The value of sport is sometimes underestimated. Whether it is the GAA or chess, each of these activities provide people with outlets that improve society as a whole.

If we take law and order, for instance, thankfully Irish sport in general does not have many problems when it comes to upholding law and order at sporting events. I have been asked by the Hungarian committee chairperson to give some indications as to how we manage to have our sporting endeavours so peaceful and family orientated. The EPAS, in any event, will be able to aid sporting bodies in this country on different approaches and campaigns that can be run to ensure this does not become an issue. While Ireland has a good record, we have seen in recent weeks and months that a minority of so-called fans can cause trouble. I am referring in particular to the incidents that took place at the end of both FAI league games and at Gaelic football matches in the course of last season. Thankfully, such incidents are relatively rare but we must ensure we take sharp action to stamp out such occurrences before they take hold. This is something which the EPAS has assisted other member countries to do.

Ireland's voice at an international level will also be improved. The EPAS is partnered with the likes of UEFA and other European sporting bodies. Having a voice at the table when policies and regulations are being discussed for sport on a European basis cannot hurt.

Report after report shows that Irish people are becoming less healthy. The boom period led many to forget about the importance of exercise. Obesity, as the Minister of State knows, will be on the rise at a rate that is quite scary, not just among the young but right across the age spectrum. If this trend is not halted and reversed, we shall see an enormous strain being put on our health service in the years to come. Having examined the activities closely, it prides itself on its health promotion work. The campaigns run by the EPAS highlight different ways of improving health through sport. As these campaigns are on a European-wide basis, the information provided presents many different perspectives on approaches to sport and health. Again, this illustrates the positive impact that membership of the EPAS can afford Ireland, not only in sport but as a country.

Through my Council of Europe work, I have been fortunate to be party to some very early but interesting work that is being done in dealing with corruption in sport. The scale and widespread nature of this, from the evidence I have seen to date, has shocked me greatly and probably has forever changed the way in which I will view sport. This is clearly taking place across Europe, and I have no doubt that it is, unfortunately, present within Irish sporting circles as well, with very high levels of gambling on the outcomes of sporting fixtures, using exchange betting and other activities. At the moment, the spotlight is not being focused on this criminal activity but that is about to change.

The media and sporting bodies in Europe are beginning to pay attention to the problem which threatens the very enjoyment and existence of sport for us all. To eliminate this growing cancer in sport, it is essential that Ireland is at the centre of future investigations and new regulations. Signing up to the EPAS presents us with an ideal opportunity to uphold fair play and sportsmanship, which are key values in sport that must be protected.

The EPAS is regularly consulted and engaged in the awarding of major sporting events. Being part of a lobby that numbers 33 countries and which is constantly growing would strengthen our chances of securing some of these events in Ireland. Every week in this House we discuss ways of generating employment and general economic growth. We cannot afford to miss out on the revenue that would be created from these events through tourism and so on. In this context membership of the EPAS has relevance for the social development of Ireland, quite apart from the sporting benefits. As far as I know, the economic implications for this country would be minimal.