Martin Cullen (Waterford, Fianna Fail)
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In relation to the Council of Europe and the Enlarged Partial Agreement on Sport (EPAS), it is recognised that the Council of Europe has played an important role in Irish sport policy. The principles of sport policy defined in the Irish Sports Council Act 1999 are based on the Council of Europe's European Sports Charter and our national anti-doping programme was established based on the elements of the Council's Anti-Doping Convention. As Sport no longer forms part of the Council of Europe's centrally budgeted activities, Ireland is not presently a member of the Council's EPAS. My Department does however follow EPAS events and programmes for continued consideration in the context of Irish sport policy. In view of the exceptional economic constraints at present and the need to prioritise developments in relation to the roll out of the EU sports provisions established by the Lisbon Treaty, this Department has not sufficient resources to expand involvement to direct participation in EPAS in 2010.