Fiona O'Loughlin (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

It is good to have the Minister of State here to talk about this important area, which I know he is passionate about. He is already making a huge difference since taking office. I was delighted to welcome him to south Kildare recently and we visited a number of diverse clubs including rugby, snooker, soccer, GAA and watersports, which is very important with the blueway. Under the last round of funding, Kildare was very fortunate to receive over €5.4 million for its sports clubs. The grants are making a huge difference on the ground. It was a high allocation and we are already looking forward to another high allocation in the next round. The diversity is important. Kildare has built almost 8,000 houses in the last four years but we need to build sustainable communities and make sure there are recreational and sporting facilities also.

Kildare is a wonderful sporting county. We have terrific volunteers right across the county who do so much to support and develop our communities. I want to give a special shout-out to the Kildare Sports Partnership, Syl Merrins and his team Eddie, Majella, Donna, John and Fiach. They do a lot of work, particularly around sports inclusion. One of the areas the Minister of State highlighted when he was in Kildare recently was the all stars group in Kilcullen for young people with disabilities and how they are included in a mainstream club, which is hugely important. Earlier this year I got to meet the Minister of State in Berlin at the Special Olympics World Games. It was great to see the Irish athletes going from strength to strength.

I just want to give a shout-out to women's sport. We have been doing really well in Kildare. Róisín Byrne received an all-star on Saturday, which was absolutely fantastic. The women won the intermediate football championship. They do not have their own grounds but they are attempting to do that. It is difficult sometimes to get access to training facilities. It is likewise with the Newbridge hockey club and the Athy camogie club. It is important. The Minister of State is putting an emphasis on women's sport so I thank him for that.

I just want to mention the Rathangan tennis club. It went ahead and raised its own funds and last week it opened its new all-weather courts, which was just fantastic.I give a big shout out to the team at St. Conleth's GAA grounds where the redevelopment committee has put in great work. They are hoping to open for the county finals next September, which we are looking forward to.

Sports funding is, of course, more than just about bricks and mortar and is about all of the people and communities involved. Infrastructure plays an important part especially around competitive sport. I am hoping that the impact of inflation on construction costs, which is impacting many sporting clubs, will be eased by the Government.