Neale Richmond (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I would like to share in the disappointment of many in the House at the decision by the World Rugby Council not to award Ireland the 2023 rugby world cup. I commend the efforts of the Executive in Northern Ireland, the Irish Government, all political parties and, most importantly, the IRFU, led by Philip Orr and Philip Browne, for their efforts in what was a very worthy endeavour. Unfortunately, it was not meant to be and there are lots of reasons, which we are not going to go into now. However, it gives us a great opportunity to look at the sporting infrastructure of this State and the importance of sport to our society, health and mental well-being, especially of the younger generation. Therefore, in light of the fact we are expecting an imminent announcement on sports capital grants, I ask the Leader to call in the Minister of State at the Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport, Deputy Brendan Griffin, to discuss the context of those grants, but also to discuss a strategy for sport in Ireland and how we can get more people participating across the community, across the age groups and across the gender gap.