Brendan Griffin (Kerry South, Fine Gael)
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275. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport the position regarding efforts to host the 2023 Rugby World Cup; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [10051/14]

Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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In November last, the Government considered a Memorandum on the discussions and analysis to date on a potential bid to host the Rugby World Cup in 2023. While the Memorandum identified a number of challenges, the great potential of the event is also clear and I believe that hosting the Rugby World Cup on a cross-border basis in 2023 would be a great opportunity for Northern Ireland and Ireland. Aside from the potential economic boost, the tournament would raise our international profile, not just in terms of sport and tourism, but also more widely in terms of business, trade and investment. Attracting major international events is a key element of tourism strategy on both sides of the border and cooperation between north and south can enhance such events.

In response to the Memorandum, the Government expressed strong support for the proposal and for the conduct of further work to get to the stage of making a formal decision to bid. In order to progress the matter further, Minister of State Ring and I met with Minister Arlene Foster, who is the Minister responsible for tourism in the Northern Ireland Executive, and Minister Carál Ní Chulín, who is responsible for sport in the Executive, in Armagh on 22 January. At that meeting, we agreed to establish a working group to examine some key issues further and to report back to Ministers in the Summer. The working group held its first meeting last Tuesday, 25 February and I look forward to receiving their report.