Chris Andrews (Sinn Fein)

While Dublin hurling has had many dark days over the years, Saturday was not one of them. The Dublin hurlers had a fantastic victory over an iconic, amazing Limerick team. Hopefully, Dublin can win their next match against Cork. I acknowledge those who believed in Dublin hurling for so many years and who fought for it during those dark days. I think of people like Shay Connolly from Ringsend and Seán Lane up in Ballinteer St. Johns. They believed in hurling and camogie and fought the fight to ensure Dublin hurling has days like last Saturday. The win over Limerick on Saturday was on the shoulders of people like Seán and Shay. I wish to acknowledge that.

I also raise the scandalous fact that the IRFU has become a major landlord in the Dublin 4 area. Over the weekend, it emerged that the IRFU has been steadily acquiring rental properties near the Aviva Stadium and renting them out at extortionate rates. The IRFU now owns 23 properties in the vicinity of the Aviva, with at least nine having registered tenancies. The rent for one of those two-bedroom homes is €6,500 per month. It is hard to understand that. This property portfolio is valued at €30 million despite the organisation declaring a budget deficit of €18 million, according to its most recent accounts. For a body that receives considerable State funding, it is highly questionable that it is spending millions of euro acquiring high-value retail estate while making cuts to its operations for the sake of financial sustainability. I think of the men's sevens rugby team, which was cut. This does not seem to have been questioned to any great degree. Not only that, the IRFU, like all organisations that use the Aviva Stadium, has a responsibility to the local community to be a good neighbour. It is important that clarity is provided by the IRFU and the Minister for sport to ensure that residents in the area and IRFU tenants are not being taken advantage of. We also need to ensure that taxpayers' money is being spent wisely. If the taxpayer is funding the IRFU's development programme, that seems questionable. When funding is allocated to the IRFU, it is done on the understanding that it will be used to support the development of sport at grassroots level, as well as to engender success on the highest international stage. It is not done to allow the IRFU to satisfy the desire to be a landlord. The organisation should focus on rugby, rather than squeezing rent out of tenants and residents and becoming a holder of development properties.