I move:
Go ndeontar suim ná raghaidh that £1,000 chun íoctha an Mhuirir a thiocfaidh chun bheith iníoctha i rith na bliana dar críoch an 31adh lá de Mhárta, 1933, chun deontas i gcabhair do Chomhairle Olimpiach na hEireann.
That a sum not exceeding £1,000 be granted to defray the Charge which will come in course of payment during the year ending on the 31st day of March, 1933, for a grant in aid of the Irish Olympic Council.
This estimate is being introduced in order to make a grant of £1,000 to the Irish Olympic Council towards the expenses of sending an Irish team of athletes to compete in the Olympic Games in Los Angeles next month. The Council, which comprises the Irish Cycling, Athletic, Handball and Swimming Associations of Ireland intends to send 14 competitors to the Olympic Games, and they estimate that it will cost £150 each, or a sum of over £2,000. The Council has sufficient funds to train and equip the team, but it is unable to pay the expenses to Los Angeles. This, I think, will be the third occasion upon which Ireland has had separate representations at the Olympic Games. The first occasion was in 1924, when a small team was sent to Paris and when the expenses were defrayed by public subscriptions. In 1928, however, there was a departure from that, and £1,000 was contributed towards the expenses of the team which went to Amsterdam that year. We have felt, after a great deal of consideration, that in view of the fact that certain important decisions are to be taken to represent the status of this country in the athletic world, and in view of the fact that an attempt is being made this year to have handball recognised for the purpose of Olympic contests, and also because the Games this year are being held in a country in which the Irish population is very extensive, that it would be inadvisable for us to depart from the precedent which has been established by the previous Government and to have refused to assist the Irish Athletic Council. Accordingly we are recommending this grant to the House.
