John O'Mahony (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister to the House. I understand this is his first visit as a Minister, having served here as a Senator for many years.

The Minister's comprehensive overview shows clearly that he has a very wide brief. There are many challenges ahead but there are opportunities as well. I attended a meeting of the Joint Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport this morning at which departmental officials, together with representatives from Transport Infrastructure Ireland, outlined in stark terms the cuts in funding for our roads since the economic crash in 2008. I welcome the Minister's determination, as expressed in his statement here, to review and restore that funding because the longer it goes on, the more costly it will become.

I can only scratch the surface in the time allowed today but on aviation traffic, the growth has been phenomenal, as the Minister pointed out. I am glad that the continuation of that growth is being planned for in the context of the extra runway at Dublin Airport and developments at the other State airports at Shannon and Cork. The Minister made reference to the possibility of a third terminal, which is interesting given that only a few years ago the suggestion was made that terminal 2 was a waste of money.

For those of us who live in regional and rural Ireland connectivity is crucial. Our regional airports in Kerry, Donegal, Waterford and in my own area of Knock are very important in that regard. In the last few days Ireland West Airport, Knock, announced record numbers of passengers for 2016. It had a greater number of passengers than all of the other regional airports put together. The airport is vital for those in County Donegal, the midlands and the west. The Minister made reference in his statement to Public Service Obligation, PSO, routes. Knock had a PSO route which it lost a number of years ago because it was not being used. The Minister mentioned the two PSO routes in Donegal and Kerry and I hope they are being well used. Are those routes being kept under review in terms of their use? If they are being used, they must be kept but if they are not being used, they must be considered carefully. It is as simple and straightforward as that because there is limited funding available for regional airports.

The Minister mentioned the regional airports funding programme for 2015 to 2019 which facilitates State funding for capital spending on security and safety measures. Under the new scheme the State only provides for 75% of the costs whereas under the old scheme it provided 90%. It is my understanding that the previous Government submitted a request to the European Commission to allow for exceptional cases to be made in certain circumstances. As the Minister rightly pointed out, some of these airports do not have the capacity to raise the 25% funding shortfall. I understand the Government argued for the provision of 90% funding for Ireland West Airport, Knock because of the urgent need for a new apron given the increased number of flights at the airport.I would welcome any information the Minister has on that.

The regional airports have the ability to get tourists directly to the regions, which is crucial. Tourism has been a good-news story in recent years but it is important that we do not lose our competitive advantage and the good value for money that was there. There is huge value for money particularly in the regions. Senator Ned O'Sullivan pointed out the issues in Dublin and large urban areas where there is a shortage of hotel accommodation and the rates have increased. The regions can continue to provide value for money and the regional airports are vital for that.

I compliment the State agencies on their targeted marketing, including The Gathering, the Wild Atlantic Way, Ireland's Ancient East and many others.

Sport is also within the Minister's remit. I join other Senators in welcoming yesterday's launch of Ireland's Rugby World Cup bid. Sport is able to unite people more than politics can. Hopefully the Government, the Northern Administration, the GAA and rugby coming together can provide a huge boost to the economy in 2023 if we can land it.

As the Minister has said, there have been many good stories in sport. I think we are going through a golden era at the moment. He mentioned the recent rugby win against the All Blacks and the upcoming game. I better not mention that he might be able to make tickets available to Senators because we had enough controversy about that in recent times. It certainly is a golden era as we saw in the Olympic Games and the Paralympics, but there are also problems in sport.

The Minister mentioned governance in sport and I welcome the consultation process he has announced. He mentioned the ticketing scandal and the investigations will report on what happened there. He was in the middle of that controversy during the summer. On top of that issue, there are other issues with governance in sport. For instance boxing was the leading light in previous Olympic Games; it really fell through the floor in this one. There was also controversy at world level over the judging system and all that. I know the reviews will come out and we will have an opportunity to discuss them at the committee. I would be interested in the Minister's comments on that. We want to support the positive effects of sport and eradicate the negative and bad administration wherever it exists.

I finish on a housekeeping matter. In the previous Government, the Minister of State, Deputy Ring, was responsible for sport. I ask the Minister to clarify to whom we should make representations and the various areas covered by the Minister of State, Deputy O'Donovan. I presume he has responsibility for the sporting area. Obviously, the Minister has overall responsibility, but I ask him to clarify the different roles.