John Kelly (Labour) | Oireachtas source

The Minister of State is welcome again to the House. I will be supporting the Bill, which is very simple. It is about the establishment of Sport Ireland and the dissolution of the Irish Sports Council and the National Sports Campus Development Authority, which is in line with Government policy to reduce the number of quangos.

The function of Sport Ireland is to develop strategies for increasing participation in sport. We all welcome that. In many sporting clubs over the years we have seen children start playing football at the age of three or four and we thought nothing would ever come of it. We would watch them on the field and say, "He will never make a footballer" but I compliment the parents who make their children get involved in sport because we now have young people whom we never thought any good would come of them and who are representing their county at senior and minor levels. I compliment the volunteers throughout the country, many of whom are in my own town, who are driving the success of clubs in every county. They deserve to be complimented.

Another function of Sport Ireland is supporting elite athletes in achieving excellence in sport, which is to be welcomed. As Senator Ó Murchú said, as a small country we are boxing well above our weight in that regard. I have often mentioned to the Minister of State an issue that is not within his remit but is one he might mention to some of his colleagues. There is not the same support for our world champion Irish dancers who do every bit as much as our sporting athletes. They represent their country on the world stage but there is not enough recognition of them. It is an issue about which I will talk to the Minister of State again.

The final function of Sport Ireland is to facilitate good conduct, fair play and the elimination of doping in sport.

Since being elected to the Seanad I have to say that the Minister of State is one of the best Ministers I have seen here and I believe he is doing a great job. One does not see it in Dublin, Cork, Galway and Limerick, but across rural Ireland it is all doom and gloom. We go on about growth in the economy but the people in rural Ireland do not see it. However, every so often when a sports capital grant is allocated to a club that seeks funding, it gives the entire area a huge lift. I thank the Minister of State for grants he has given to the Ballaghaderreen GAA club, the soccer club and the community park in Ballaghaderreen. He would not believe it but by virtue of the investment he has made in those clubs, they are attracting an increasing number of members. They have greater success on the county stage and because of that, most of them do their own lottery and 50-50 draws, and the amount of money they generate from those is amazing. That means that in most cases they may not seek money from the Minister of State's Department in the future, but if they do, I know he will oblige me.

When I played soccer as a young fellow there was an ESB pole on the 20 yard line of our first pitch. On our second pitch there was a drop of ten feet from one end to the other. By virtue of the investment by the Minister of State's Department through the sports capital grants, all these problems are virtually eliminated. That is to be welcomed.

I refer to the sports capital grants for community-run golf clubs. I do not play golf. I support certain golf clubs and sponsor events, etc. in them but there is no question that many of those clubs throughout the country are struggling. They cannot attract new members. Some of them are nine-hole golf courses and they must invest in the club to attract more members. I hope that in the new round of grants the Minister of State will take some of these community-run golf clubs into consideration and that if they dot the i's and cross the t's, he will look after them. I compliment the Minister of State again on the great work he is doing and has done to date.