Michael Ring (Mayo, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Volunteers are a vital part of every club and sporting organisation around the country and are doing wonderful work for sport in their communities. Volunteers play a major role in maintaining the high level of sporting activity in Ireland, with all the associated health and social benefits, and contribute significantly to the development of elite sport in Ireland, which has done so much to enhance the international reputation of Irish sport. Athletes in every sport can only reach their potential because of the support, encouragement and inspiration they receive from the volunteers in their clubs. Last week I was delighted to present the National Volunteers in Sport Awards to ten people who have made outstanding voluntary contributions to sport in Ireland. The awards celebrate the contribution of volunteers to Irish sport and have gone from strength to strength since they were first introduced in 2007, with a record number of nominations this year.

I now turn to the issue of attracting international sporting events to Ireland. The programme for Government includes a commitment that event tourism will be prioritised in order to continue to bring major events to Ireland. The hosting of major sporting events, including both sports participation and spectator sports, can provide a great showcase for Ireland and drive international visitor numbers, and the media coverage of sports tourism events helps to put Ireland onto travel itineraries as a holiday destination. Accordingly, the Government is supportive of the ongoing efforts of the tourism agencies and the national governing bodies of sport to attract international events, subject to an assessment of the costs and benefits involved in any State financial support, in particular the number of overseas visitors.

Other important sporting events take place each year, for example, the GAA All-Ireland series, the Six Nations rugby and the Irish Open. Where appropriate, the tourism bodies work with these and other sporting bodies to maximise the tourism benefit of events. For example, the Irish Open has received significant support from Fáilte Ireland. The Giro D'ltalia and the American football match between the University of Central Florida and Penn State earlier this year are further evidence that the island of Ireland can successfully host large international events. I was delighted to see that the FAI and Dublin City Council recently succeeded in their bid to host part of the UEFA Euro 2020 tournament at the Aviva Stadium, a bid which had the strong support of the Government. This is a fantastic opportunity to host a premier international tournament. I am also delighted that Dún Laoghaire Golf Club is set to host the 39th Curtis Cup match in 2016, highlighting the excellence of the golfing facilities available in Ireland.

Senators will be aware that last November the Government considered a memorandum on the discussions and analysis to date on a potential bid to host the Rugby World Cup in 2023. While the memorandum identified a number of challenges, the great potential of the event is also clear. Hosting the Rugby World Cup on a cross-Border basis in 2023 would be a great opportunity for Northern Ireland and Ireland. In response to the memorandum, the Government expressed strong support for the proposal and for further work to get to the stage of making a formal decision to bid. In order to progress the matter further, we met with Arlene Foster and Carál Ní Chuilín, the Ministers responsible for tourism and sport, respectively, in the Northern Ireland Executive, in Armagh on 22 January. We agreed to establish a working group to examine some key issues further and to report back to Ministers in the summer. The working group, chaired by Hugo MacNeill, and comprising the IRFU and relevant Government Departments from both jurisdictions, has submitted its report and its conclusions and recommendations are currently being considered.

All Members of this House are familiar with the sports capital programme, SCP. It provides much-needed funding to voluntary, sporting and community organisations for the provision of sports and recreational facilities. More than 9,100 projects have benefitted from sports capital funding since 1998, bringing the total allocations in that time to over €825 million. The programme has transformed the sporting landscape of Ireland, with improvements in the quality and quantity of sporting facilities in virtually every village, town and city in the country. The facilities that have been funded range from small clubs to national centres of sporting excellence. In 2012 we were pleased to make allocations totalling €31 million under the 2012 round of the SCP, the first round of the programme since 2008. The absence of an SCP between 2008 and 2012 meant that there was a huge level of demand for grants. Consequently, we had a record number of applications in 2012 with a total of 2,170 applications. We were delighted to be able to make changes to the programme in 2012 to make it accessible to more clubs and organisations than ever before. These changes also contributed to the record number of applications in 2012. We were pleased to announce a total of €40.5 million earlier this year under the 2014 round of the SCP. A total of 2,036 applications were received under the 2014 programme, the second highest number ever received. In total, 821 of the successful allocations were to local sports clubs and organisations, with the remaining 59 allocated to regional or national projects.

Senators will appreciate that with such high levels of demand for grants, it will never be possible to fund all applications. Such high demand highlights the importance of the SCP. Unfortunately, our resources can only go some of the way to meeting such a high level of demand, and we fully understand that it leaves some grantees disappointed at not receiving funding. This continuing high level of demand for sports capital grants shows how important facilities are in providing people, both young and not so young, with more opportunities to participate in sport. It also shows how important the SCP is in helping organisations develop modern fit-for-purpose facilities. If we are to encourage people to participate in healthy sporting activity, it is only right that we do the best we can to assist these people in having decent facilities. Indeed, one of the key features of the SCP is that it helps to take some of the pressure off the shoulders of sporting organisations, and the volunteers involved in those organisations, by providing much needed finance to assist in the completion of projects. This is a concrete and real recognition of the role played by these organisations and by the volunteers involved. It is one way of saying "thank you" to those people for the all the excellent work they do, seven days a week, 52 weeks of the year, year in and year out.

I am determined that as a society, and as a Government, we continue to demonstrate our support for the Irish sporting family, and for the countless volunteers who do a remarkable job for Irish sport and for the young people of Ireland, and we will continue to invest in facilities to help those volunteers in their excellent work. We are a sports-mad nation, and we rightly reserve a special place in our hearts for those who excel at the highest level. They inspire us all, they fill us with national pride, and they serve as great role models for young people. Elite performance is one side of the coin. The other side involves hundreds of thousands of people who will never be elite performers in their chosen sport, but who love sport, and who participate for the sheer fun involved. Anybody who travels throughout their county at the weekend cannot help being amazed at the number of sporting events taking place at any given time. We must continue to support those people and their activities, and that's what the SCP is all about.

In this regard, I am delighted that we were successful in receiving enough money for 2015 to launch another round of the SCP next year.