Seanad debates

Friday, 5 March 2021

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business

 

10:30 am

Photo of Shane CassellsShane Cassells (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I second the amendment from Senator Byrne to the Order of Business. I welcome the announcement by Minister of State, Deputy Chambers, that we are participating in the feasibility study with the UK Government on the bid to host the FIFA World Cup in 2030 with the football associations of England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. As the Taoiseach rightly said, it is very exciting. It is also good we have Wales and Scotland on board, given what happened the last time we bid for a major tournament - the Rugby World Cup. Our Celtic neighbours threw their lot in with the French when the time came to vote.Perhaps we might all vote for each other this time given that it is a joint bid. Although, as we have seen in this Chamber many times, being on the one team does not necessarily mean voting for one's man, but we live in hope.

I will address the feasibility study which is part of this bid. The Government spent just over €1 million assisting the Irish Rugby Football Union, IRFU, on its Rugby World Cup bid which cost more than €3.25 million in total. The contribution from our side is probably going to cost around €3 million this time around. There is provision under the major events division of the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media to assess the bid's viability.

As we know, the feasibility of these bids comes down to infrastructure and the demands of the International Federation of Association Football, FIFA, which are very high when it comes to hosting one of the biggest global events. It is not just about the stadiums. It will be about the supporting infrastructure for the movement of hundreds of thousands of people. We anticipated half a million people for the Rugby World Cup. The FIFA World Cup will be many more depending on how many games we host. The basic infrastructure, such as the MetroLink from the major airport to the city centre, would be a prerequisite. The standard of our public infrastructure will also come under scrutiny. We have to be honest with ourselves. Our deficiencies will be highlighted by this feasibility study.

Many countries in the past, when holding major events, have thrown a lot of money into them but the facilities afterwards have been white elephants. The most important thing regarding the money we invest in this feasibility study will be to give us a blueprint of the deficiencies. Regardless of whether our bid is successful or not, the investment that is called for as a result of this feasibility study, whether it is MetroLink, public services and so forth, should be made because our citizens deserve it, not just the visiting fans.

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