Darragh O'Brien (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

It may well do and that would be appropriate. However, any organisation or citizen is entitled to take a case against the State. For the Minister for Justice and Equality to question that and the costs involved is a very serious matter. People might find this funny but I am of the view that what the Minister is doing undermines the rights of organisations and citizens to take legal action against the State. As one of my colleagues on these benches has pointed out, there is a need to be aware of the separation of powers. I do not believe the Minister is aware of that in this instance.

Before Christmas I requested that time be made available for a debate on sport and funding for sport. The Minister for Transport, Sport and Tourism addressed the House yesterday in the context of the Road Traffic (No. 2) Bill 2013, but there is a need for him to return to engage in a debate on sport. In the context of the funding of national sporting bodies, I became concerned during the recess when I read that the restructuring of the FAI's debt essentially involved the purchase of that debt by Mr. Dermot Desmond. Does this mean that the FAI, the IRFU and similar bodies will eventually end up being privatised and owned by large entities or particular individuals? I am concerned about this matter and I would like the Minister to comment on it in the context of an overall debate relating to funding for sport. I welcome the fact that the amount of money available in the form of sports capital grants is going to be increased. I understand that such grants will be forthcoming in the aftermath of the local elections. I would welcome it if the Leader could schedule a debate on this important matter in the coming weeks.

I wish to request a specific debate on what the Government refers to as the local property tax. The latter was sold as being just that - a local property tax - but people realise this was a lie. The various local authorities have either completed their budgetary processes or are in the process of doing so. In that context, €40 million will be raised in the Fingal area by means of the collection of what the Government calls the local property tax. However, none of that money will go to Fingal County Council. The Government sold the people a pup and that fact must be debated in detail. If revenue is being raised on the basis of a local property tax, then it should go to the areas in which it is raised. That is not happening, which is an issue of grave concern to me, to many city and county councillors and, most important, to citizens. People were informed that this is a local property tax but that is not the case.