Michael Ring (Mayo, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank Senators for their contributions and support for the Bill. I have listened with interest to the input of Members on all sides. Merging the council and the authority in one new body is a positive move for the development of Irish sport. The council and the authority already work closely together and enjoy an excellent working relationship. We are bringing together the experience and expertise of the two bodies which have delivered a lot for sport in recent years. I am confident that the good work being done for Irish sport will continue into the future under the new Sport Ireland structure.

This is already promising to be another great year for Irish sport. There have been a number of great sporting achievements this year, including the great wins by the men’s and women’s rugby teams in the Six Nations championships; Mark English’s silver medal at the European indoor athletics championships; Eoghan Clifford’s gold medal at the world paracycling championship; Arthur Lanigan-O’Keeffe and Natalya Coyle’s silver medals at the modern pentathlon World Cup and, of course, the wonderful achievement of Bertram Allen in winning a bronze medal at the showjumping World Cup in Las Vegas last Sunday. Wins by Paddy Barnes and Michael Conlon in the world series of boxing at the weekend saw them book their places for the Olympics Games in Rio de Janeiro. These are just some of the highlights so far this year. There have been many excellent performances and successes across a wide range of sports. I congratulate all of our athletes and teams who have competed in international events so and done us proud. I am sure there will be many more exciting sporting moments for us to enjoy during the year.

We all recognise the need to increase the level of participation and get more young people involved in sport. I see events such as Euro 2020 as having the ability to do just this. It will be a great opportunity for young Irish people to see some of the best European football has to offer and I hope it will inspire them to become involved in the sport.

The Olympic and Paralympic Games will take place next year in Rio de Janeiro. This is a very important year for teams and athletes in achieving the qualification standards for the games. I am delighted that already we have athletes qualified in sailing, equestrian sport and boxing. I wish all of our athletes the best of luck in their preparations for Rio de Janeiro.

I will deal with some of the issues raised during the debate. There was a question asked about section 10, which deals with the appointment of consultants and advisers. I was asked if this was necessary to help Sport Ireland in performing its functions.What we are really saying is, if it needs advice and specialists, we are giving it permission but it will have to do it through the Department. That is only right as the Department will set policy and if there is expertise required, we are not confined. The agency would come to us and we would agree to that.

The Senator raised the issue of jobs. There will be no job losses and any pension rights or agreements that people have with their Department will carry over to the new Sport Ireland. There will be major savings in that we will not be paying for two boards. We will have one board and one body to deal with sport.

People spoke about appointments to State boards. Under new arrangements, all appointees to vacancies on State boards must be advertised on the State boards website. Guidelines on appointments to State boards have been prepared by the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform following consultations with the Public Appointments Service, other Departments and interested parties. My Department took part in that process. We are now confined to the new rules and regulations. People will have to apply online and the State boards appointments commission will look at them. Anybody can make an application and whatever names are put forward, the Minister of the day will then have to deal with that.

Another issue raised was transition in respect of the new CEO. I listened to the Senator's colleague in the Dáil and he was worried about transition as regards the new body. I have discussed this with the Minister, Deputy Donohoe and we agreed to appoint somebody for one year for a smooth transition. When the new board is up and running after one year, it will appoint the new CEO and that will be an open competition. I have taken the wishes of Fianna Fáil and of the Senator's party colleague into account and cannot do any more. Another question was asked about the sports capital programme. The first round was €31 million and the second round was €40 million. We have another €40 million for that.

I wish to thank all the speakers for their kind comments. Senators mentioned volunteers and I have never made a speech since I became Minister of State with responsibility for sport without recognising the role of volunteers, no matter where I am or what function or event I am at. The Senators are quite correct that we would never have found a superstar like Senator Eamonn Coghlan if we were paying people to do it. Some person somewhere along the way saw his potential and developed, worked with and nurtured him and brought him along. By God, the Senator was a great ambassador for this country. It never went to his head, he certainly did us proud and I am honoured to have him as a Member of the Seanad. He was a member of the Sports Council and people like him know about high performance sport and the commitment that is there.

I also want to make it clear, with no disrespect to the Senator, that it is not all about high performance or elite athletes. My job is to make sure that people in disadvantaged areas, people with disabilities, women and everybody gets an opportunity to participate in sport. I do not want money to be a barrier to that. I have said that to the CEOs and the national governing bodies. Taxpayers give substantial amounts of money to the national governing bodies, to the soccer, the rugby, the golf, athletics and every sport in this country.

As regards the sports capital programme, two things happen with it. First, for every euro we certainly get €2 in return and maybe €3 in some cases. With the boxing, soccer, GAA and rugby, more money goes in when the club members buy in to ownership of the club itself, if it gets the grant. I mean no disrespect to Dublin in saying this, but that city is very lucky. Senator Kelly and I have a problem in rural Ireland, where clubs and organisations have to go out and buy the land. Nine times out of ten in Dublin, the applications were being made through the local authorities and they have the land.

I saw a bit of criticism for my own soccer club in Westport. My club had to raise €300,000 to provide sporting facilities for young people in my town. The State gave them €400,000 and they are going to put another €700,000 or €800,000 into it themselves with lottery tickets, dances, church gate collections and everything else. If they were in Dublin that €300,000 would not have to be found because land would be provided by Dublin City Council. I would like to see the local authorities supporting clubs all over the country. If they can do it in Dublin, why can Roscommon, Mayo or Sligo County Council not do it? They should be helping clubs and providing ground for them, provided the club plays its part.

This is a non-contentious Bill that will be good for sport. We will have one organisation to regulate sport. I thank all the Senators, the sports council, the campus and everybody involved in sport. We certainly have some great facilities such as Croke Park and the Aviva. I would like to see that spread to rural areas. When I came in as Minister of State I did not allow grant aid for car parks or stands. I want to see the basic facilities on the ground. I see stands all over this country and nobody in them. I see big stadiums being built by county boards and big soccer clubs and nobody in them. What I want to see is the facilities. I want to see the astroturf pitches where people can practise.

The Senator is right - we can be proud of Abbotstown, it is Irish, we have our own facility. Senator Coghlan and people like him had to go abroad to get the training but we have the expertise here now, although maybe not for every sport. We have the facilities and are using them. We are developing the campus at a very slow pace. We are not doing it all together but bit by bit and it is falling into place. It might be nice if the Senators took a day out to view the facilities - they would be proud to see them.

If I have not answered any questions, I hope to do so on Committee Stage. If any amendments are being tabled, I ask the Senators to let my officials know. We will look at them; if we can accept them, we will and if we cannot, we will not. I do not want them to be disallowed because they were not tabled in time.

I commend the Bill to the House and thank the Senators for their interest. Sport in Ireland is as important as politics or anything else. People love their sport. I would not be a cricket man like the Senator over here-----