Jerry Buttimer (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister of State and thank him for coming to the House. I commend Senator Conway on putting forward the motion and on the import of what he is trying to achieve.

It is fair to say that all of us who are involved in sport recognise its universal importance. I come to the motion as somebody who is immersed in sport. One of my earliest memories of disability in sport is from 1979, when my father was involved with Special Olympics Munster, as Senator Dolan will know. I was in the University of Limerick, or Thomond College as it was then, and watched the participation of people with disabilities in sports. I saw the joy and the commendable bravery in participating - in some cases, it took a gargantuan effort. What it brought home was the importance of empowerment. In this case, sport empowered people with disabilities. Senator Hopkins made reference to Councillor Vicki Casserly and the work she is doing and has done regarding Team James. The participation of those with disabilities in sports is a living example of what we should all try to do.

Equally, there is the important role of sports partnership and the education and training boards, ETBs, in encouraging sport and putting in place platforms in tandem with the overarching policy of Sport Ireland. We need to continually update and be vigilant in respect of that policy in order to ensure that targets are achieved. To be fair to the Minister of State and his predecessors, that is being done via the funding model they put in place. Obviously, we can always ensure that more money is allocated and that funding is put in place so facilities are enhanced. I sometimes listen to comments which suggest that the Government is putting no money into sport and that local authorities are not funding sport. However, the motion notes the Government has doubled its investment in sport to €220 million.While that is important and without meaning to patronise, it is people like Senator Martin Conway who, through a life of advocacy, show the importance of what the motion is about. In my city of Cork there is the Rebel Wheelers club which, through its various sporting activities, allows greater participation and people's abilities, rather than their disabilities, to shine through. Article 30 of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities calls on us to increase and enhance participation in sport. All of this is about empowerment and policy, with financial resources, to give people the ability to take part, which is important.

We, rightly, applaud high profile events and the sports people who participate in them, be they the Special Olympics or the Paralympics, but there is more to it than just that. For example, there is Jamie Wall from Cork, a young man who was at the height of his hurling career and is now in a wheelchair training a Fitzgibbon Cup-winning team in Limerick. There are the Olympians whom we see on television. There is also the young boy or girl in a wheelchair or the older athlete participating in a marathon who sets off before the rest of the field. To me, funding for sport is critical, but what is more important is our ability to improve the lives of people with disabilities through removing the barriers and obstacles to which Senator John Dolan referred.

I read an interesting article in The Irish Timesduring the summer holidays. I cannot remember the writer's name, but she wrote about going to matches. Her friends had applied for tickets to attend championship matches. I believe she was from County Clare, although I might be mistaken, but the article resonated with me because she wrote about being separated from her friends at sports events or someone having to attend with her. She wrote about her siblings having to sit with her at concerts.

I attended the Liam Miller tribute game yesterday at Páirc Uí Chaoimh. I commend all involved and pay particular tribute to the Minister for his manoeuvrings and leadership. I also pay tribute to Mr. Michael O'Flynn. While in the stand yesterday, I was struck by the number of people in wheelchairs who had been separated. The same happens in other sports stadia. When facilities are being developed in the future, perhaps the disabled section - maybe should there not be one at all - might be located in the middle of the stand.