John O'Mahony (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the opportunity, in the time allotted to me, to cover several points relating to transport, tourism and sport. In the past three weeks the Minister for Arts, Heritage, Regional, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs published a plan for sustainable communities and regional development. The Minister for Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government has launched a plan for the period from 2020 to 2040. These proposals should, if implemented, lead to greater balanced regional development. However, the history of such plans has shown that they tend to become hijacked politically and not implemented.

For these plans to be successful it is important that the roll out of transport infrastructure throughout the country connects the west coast with the east coast and the north west and so on. That is crucial. Obviously, the need for metro plans in Dublin and the other cities has been raised. However, let us look ahead 20 years. We could have a situation whereby the east coast is totally choked and the west coast is totally devoid. We need connections. It is vital to plan for and roll out the infrastructure. We do not expect it to be done by next year, but we need to see the development of motorways such as the M4 and M5 as well as the M17 Gort to Tuam motorway. That will be completed next year. That route needs to be continued to Sligo and on to Donegal for balanced development. This is the key to the other plans relating to the spines and connectivity that we see.

The need is similar in the case of regional airports. I was at a meeting in Ireland West Airport Knock on Monday. Those at the meeting articulated the development taking place there. They had a record year with 750,000 passengers, more than all the other regional airports put together. It is not an airport for Mayo; it is an airport for the west and the north west. It needs to be continually supported. Those at the meeting outlined that €1.2 million was contributed in PRSI and tax to the Government as a result of people directly employed there. A further 900 indirect jobs are supported by the airport.However it needs more support for capital spending. I know the restrictions of state aid rules. Funding for capital spending has been reduced from 90% to 75%. I understand the Government had made a submission to Brussels to allow for a case to be made, in exceptional circumstances, for such funding to be increased to 90%. The Minister might comment on that aspect.

Tourism has been the one industry that has delivered for this country when we needed it most at the time of the economic crash and downturn. We had 9.5 million visitors to this country last year. I compliment the agencies involved, Tourism Ireland, Fáilte Ireland and so on, on their targeted marketing in recent years. They upped their game and the results are there for everybody to see. The Minister outlined the concerns regarding Brexit and it is important that he and everybody involved in the sector are on top of that and the dangers it implies. In other words, we cannot become complacent about what is happening. There are also dangers within our tourism industry. It relates to Dublin and the major cities with high prices for accommodation and a shortage of beds. If we are not careful, we will kill the goose that has laid the gold egg. That needs to be addressed with the Irish Hotels Federation. When there are major events in the capital week after week, be it a sporting or entertainment event, the prices are hiked up. That needs to addressed.

I have been involved in sport all my life. It has the ability to continuously lift communities and the nation in a way that no other activity can. There are some great developments happening in sport. The Minister presided at the opening of the new national indoor arena in Abbotstown a few weeks ago. The developments in sports at that site have been phenomenal. They enhance our ability to maximise the level of participation and the potential for our athletes and elite athletes to perform on the international stage at the highest level. That potential continues to be supported and unleashed with such developments.

There has been major scrutiny of the governance of sport in recent times. We have seen that at world level in various sports, including cycling and soccer, and at home with the Olympic Council of Ireland. I very much welcome the appointment of Sarah Keane as the new President of the Olympic Council of Ireland. The new president and her board face many challenges to bring about change and transparency in the way the council operates. It is staggering that it has spent almost €1 million because of the controversies that happened during the summer. It is important to bear in mind that the Olympic Council of Ireland and all other governing bodies are there to serve and not to be served. The concept of the Olympic movement is under question. I read an article in The Irish Times this week on the venues and stadiums at the Rio Olympics, where many of the venues already have fallen into a state of disrepair. They were largely abandoned after the Olympic Games and Paralympic Games. Vandals ripped out thousands of seats, stole televisions and abandoned prefabricated huts are to be found next to the Olympic golf course. The Olympic movement and model, as well as the ideals of Olympian sport, have been taken over by the corporations. That also needs to be examined in an international context.