Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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610. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport the degree to which his Department continues to have discussions with various sporting organisations with a view to ensuing maximum co-ordination of activities and events with the objective of maximising economic benefit through sport or related special, events; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [10524/15]

Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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613. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport the extent to which his Department continues to liaise with the various sporting organisations with a view to facilitating the use of this country as a venue for worldwide competitions in sport; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [10527/15]

Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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618. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport the extent to which he expects to be in a position to use sport, as a means of promoting tourism, and investment, in this country; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [10532/15]

Michael Ring (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 610, 613 and 618 together.

The hosting of major sports events can deliver additional international visits and helps to put Ireland onto travel itineraries as a holiday destination.  The hosting last year of the Giro D'Italia on an all-island basis showed that the island of Ireland can successfully host such events and the FAI and Dublin City Council also recently won their bid to host part of the UEFA Euro 2020 tournament at the Aviva stadium.

Accordingly, I am supportive of the ongoing efforts of the Tourism Agencies and the National Governing Bodies of Sport, where appropriate in conjunction with their colleagues in Northern Ireland, to attract international events, subject, of course, to an assessment of the costs/benefits involved.

The Government has assisted the IRFU in preparing its bid to host the Women's Rugby World cup in 2017 and, as the Deputy is aware, the Government and the Northern Ireland Executive, recently announced our support for the preparation of a joint bid for the Rugby World Cup in 2023.  The IRFU, with support of both Governments, has commenced work on compiling the bid.  An Overview Group will be appointed in the near future to oversee progress and guide the bid preparation.

Our tourism and sporting infrastructure are amongst the finest in Europe and are well capable of providing the modern facilities required by participants and spectators alike. We will continue to look for opportunities to both grow tourism and develop sport in Ireland by hosting major events with real overseas revenue-generating potential.