Noel Rock (Dublin North West, Fine Gael)
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577. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport the status of his discussions with the organisers of a tournament (details supplied) regarding Ireland potentially hosting the 2026 tournament; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [42210/18]

Shane Ross (Dublin Rathdown, Independent)
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The 2018 Ryder Cup is a three day golf tournament organised by one of the governing bodies for golf in Europe, the European Tour.

The European Tour recently conveyed their wish to discuss the possible hosting of a future Ryder Cup in Ireland and sought a meeting with me to discuss same. Along with officials from my Department, I attended meetings with representatives of the European Tour on 30th September at the Ryder Cup in Paris and viewed the event infrastructure and facilities. My officials have since been engaging with the European Tour to ascertain what support is generally required from the Government of a hosting country. Further meetings are planned.

The hosting of a Ryder Cup gives rise to considerable economic value in the host country. Deloitte have reported on the value to the Irish economy of the 2006 Ryder Cup. The direct economic value was estimated to be more than €140m and the full impact was reported to be around €240m. Similarly, the value to the Scottish and Welsh economies, from the 2014 and 2010 events respectively, have been reported as substantial.

Noel Rock (Dublin North West, Fine Gael)
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578. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport if he or officials from his Department have met with an organisation (details supplied) regarding plans to join the bid to host a tournament; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [42211/18]

Shane Ross (Dublin Rathdown, Independent)
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Representatives of the FAI recently met with officials from my Department to brief them on the invitation that the FAI received to join the feasibility study to look into the possibility of a joint British-Irish bid to host the 2030 FIFA World Cup. The process is at a very early stage and my Department indicated to the FAI that it would be happy to engage with them on the study.