Mark Duffy (Fine Gael)

I support the previous speaker's contribution in relation to winter readiness. It is a very good discussion and very worthwhile.

I extend my congratulations to my party colleague, Paschal Donohoe, on his retirement from political life after an incredible contribution to the State and to society generally. He has had a remarkable political career. I wish him the best. I have no doubt he will do great things for Ireland and the world in his new position.

I call for a discussion with the Minister for sport on the standardisation of sporting infrastructure. Right across the country, we see great examples of sporting projects and facilities. In particular, indoor facilities in the winter months that are all-weather and can be used all year round can have such a positive impact on people's physical and mental health and also for athletes training for competitions. It can have such positive societal value. However, there are gaps in terms of both amenities and sporting infrastructure across our communities. Sometimes, it is because a grant opens and closes and some town gets another facility that it may or may not need as much as another town or settlement. We need a joined-up approach on that. I call for a debate to make sure that, where there are certain populations, they are guaranteed to have all-weather facilities, whether that be indoor or outdoor, for Gaelic games, soccer, basketball and all those different types of facilities, and also less mainstream sports like skateboarding, which is now an Olympic sport. Does every town over a certain population have one? It should. I am also talking about all-weather tracks and pools. We need to have a clear picture of all amenities and infrastructure in every town and village and make sure that we work back from that to positively discriminate areas that need specific types of investment.

If the Cathaoirleach will indulge me in the last couple of seconds that I have, I am hosting the Pancreatic Cancer Ireland charity in the audiovisual room tomorrow. I encourage as many colleagues as possible to come and attend. It is at 10 a.m. It is an incredible charity recently formed. Sadly, 600 people are diagnosed with pancreatic cancer every year. Of those, 500 pass away within the first 12 months. It is a scourge of an illness. We can do so much better as a country. It is a difficult one to address but there is no better place than starting the discussion. I encourage and ask my colleagues to support it if they can.