Michael Mullins (Fine Gael)

I will keep my question short as well. I join in the words of welcome for the Minister of State. It is great to have a Minister of State in the Department who is so enthusiastic and up for every challenge. There is no better man. There are some great facilities throughout the country in most reasonably-sized towns. One concern is how to maximise the use of these facilities and get young people to use them. There is probably a small percentage of our population using them.

We must pay tribute to all the volunteers who help out in organisations and sports. We should honour and encourage these people at every opportunity. It has been a difficult time because of things that have taken place and the issue of child protection and so on. Many good people have been scared away from getting involved and helping out and this is a pity. Perhaps we should campaign to encourage more people to volunteer and get involved, especially in the sporting area.

As the Minister of State noted, every euro spent on sport is a real investment. The Minister of State's figured that for every €100 we spend, we get back €149 to the Exchequer, which is excellent. We have a wonderful product and outstanding role models who represent the country at the highest level. We have a great deal to be proud of. Nevertheless, I am concerned that we are not getting enough young people involved. I am keen to seen investment in future in more non-participatory activities such as walking trails, hiking and so on. I call on the Minister of State to keep an eye on such activity in future.