Joanne Collins (Sinn Fein)

I welcome the Minister of State to the Chamber. I wish to discuss sport in the sense that it is not just elite sport we need to talk about, it is all sport. I wish to discuss one sport in particular, which is swimming. I spoke about this a couple of weeks ago here in the Seanad. Swimming as a sport is not just competitive. A swimming service has young and old people as beginners. It is there for physiotherapy and can be used for so much more than just competitive swimming. That is why it would be ideal to have public swimming pools brought into counties in Ireland. There is one in County Limerick which is trying to go into a public realm, but it seems to be hitting a wall. It is actually in the Minister, Deputy O'Donovan’s backyard in Newcastle West. It would be nice for him to speak on it some time, or pass on a message with regard to whether it looks like it is going ahead or not.

Speaking of County Limerick, we had an opportunity last year to bring the World Rally Championship, WRC, to Ireland, which would have had massive economic turnover for both Limerick and Tipperary and Waterford, which were also included in it. That was put on the back burner because those concerned needed to reassess and review certain things within the contracts. However, it seems to be dead in the water. It would be nice to get an idea as to where that stands and whether we are going to see the World Rally Championship come to Ireland and in particular, to Limerick, Waterford and Tipperary.