: Deputy Tunney has been given permission to raise on the Adjournment Ireland's participation in next year's Olympic Games. The Deputy has 18 minutes.
Adjournment Debate . - Ireland's Participation in Olympic Games .
: Tá mé buíoch gur thug tú deis dom labhairt ar an ghné tábhachtach seo. For the past half hour we have heard a discussion on what no doubt is a very important matter. I venture to suggest that what appears on the Adjournment is no less important. I hope that in presenting my thoughts I will get a response from the spokesman on sport and physical education which might be different from what the last speaker on this side received in respect of what he presented, from the other side of the House.
I ask you to bear with me while I discuss the word "education". For centuries there has been a concept of what we call education. I must admit, as one who could aspire to the title of educationist, that for many years I have been putting a very big question mark behind what is our approach to education. I have serious doubts about all the academic qualified people who presume to speak to me in connection with education. I see in relation to the vast sums we provide for education nothing more than the replacement of the old capital system where we encourage young and older people to pursue a certain study at the cost of the taxpayer and at the end those students embark on a life which is insular, secular and has very little regard for those who made it possible for them.
There is no longer the approach to education we had in the past when we talked of real education, education for education's sake, which we were prepared to share with our neighbours in the hope they might be improved by it. The new concept is: you get it at the expense of your neighbour and, having got it, you make your neighbour pay dearly for it. That aspect of education refers to the healthy mind concept that we talked about but which I believe has been abused very much.
The concept I want to talk about on the Adjournment refers to the healthy body. I see there an acceptance of the concept which in this country is as idealistic as it was centuries ago because we have people who are prepared to apply themselves to this very serious aspect of education without any payment, to give their time and efforts so that their neighbours may be better. That aspect of education does not get importance in the word given to it because we use the simple word "sport". There is no high-falutin' term, no honours degrees, no PhD, no plaque outside your office entitling you to charge, but it is nevertheless as beneficial and as necessary to man in the age of technology as the mental pursuits in which he engages for his own enlightenment and education so that he may charge dearly for them.
In this country we still retain the voluntary type of approach. Unlike Russia, Italy, Germany and France, we have not any paid full-time athletes. We have very few paid full-time administrators. We have people prepared to do this for the sake of its art. We have in sport something akin to the higher branch of physical education. For many decades we have at four years intervals the great competition of the Olympic Games, dating back to ancient Greece when such pursuits were more common than the sports at four yearly intervals we have now.
Every nation sends its representatives to that international competition. You know as well as I the interest and excitement engendered when we see an Eamon Coughlan or a Ronnie Delaney, whom some of us remember seeing in 1956. This applies to any athlete, whether he be in the boxing ring or in a field event — he is there representing us.
While he is participating we are all very happy to be associated with him, and if by any chance he is victorious we would all claim association with him and indeed be so presumptuous as to think we were party to his success. If, as happens more often than not in respect of our Olympic athletes, they do not figure in the finals, we are critical and say they should not have been sent. We ask why did they go. We say they let us down and we ask had we not better to represent us. I suppose that is a fair enough reaction of disappointment, however unreasonable.
What I am concerned about in respect of those young men and women who will carry the responsibility of representing Ireland in next year's Olympics is that even at this late stage we, whose responsibility they are, will be prepared to cooperate with the many volunteers and voluntary agencies who in spite of adversity and the lack of encouragement that exists, are still soldiering on so that we may have a team in the Olympics next year.
I will return to education, and the cost. In the Estimates which we have before us these days there is a total provision of £900 million for education. I have looked at the Estimates and I see that the amount that will go to what I regard as an equal and vitally important part of education — physical education — will be a mere £600,000. That is to cater for all the voluntary dedicated people who look after all our athletes. They are to get among them £600,000 from a budget of £900 million for the unselfish and magnificent work they are doing so that the image of the Irish athlete may be maintained, so that the image of the Irish scholar in physical education may be maintained.
In all the years when I had responsibility for sport I boasted that I never once introduced party politics into consideration. Now I am saddened to have to do so. In respect of the inadequate sum which my Government had provided for those sporting organisations in 1983 there has been a reduction by this Government of 11 per cent. How in the name of heaven can we hope that the people will believe us when we say we have an interest in the physical well being of our young people at a time when it can be argued that the employment of their spare time is more important than ever before?
People may say to me that it is characteristic of this side of the House to appear to have available all the money in the world when in Opposition but when in Government not to have it in the same supply. I must express happiness in defending the position that existed when I had the responsibility which Minister of State Creed now enjoys. In 1979 on the eve of the last Olympics I said to my Government what I am saying here tonight. I told them I would not take the responsibility of asking young men and women to represent Ireland unless we made some attempt towards preparing them so that they might acquit themselves better than had been the position heretofore. My Government made available to me the money to allow for a 50 per cent increase to the Irish Olympic Council. It allowed me to provide for weekend training; it allowed me to establish in Ballinteer and in Thomond College an opportunity for our boxers and athletes to come together, to socialise, to get some guidance in the matter of diet, to get some help to prepare them to have the necessary stamina, durability and expertise to compete so that they would do justice to themselves and the country.
They may not have done as well as we had hoped but at least I was happy in my mind that their preparation was an improvement on what existed before that. It should be remembered that those were better times economically than exist now. We had some excellent companies like Cement Roadstone and other commercial firms who were prepared to assist. In the present climate I do not think such assistance will be forthcoming. Therefore, the responsibility will be on Deputy Creed, as Minister of State, to provide the money. It is no use doing it in a month or two months time. It must be done immediately, and even at that it will be too late.
I was in Moscow after the last Olympic Games. Within a month I saw their athletes being selected for the Los Angeles Olympics. The following year I was in Italy to visit sporting centres and they also had already selected their athletes for Los Angeles. We have not selected our athletes yet and we have a Government hoping that out of £600,000 for all of the sporting organisations provision can also be made for the IOC. I would hope too that as far as the special olympics for the handicapped are concerned there would be some generosity. However, I know that I am permitted to refer to next year's Olympic Games only. I appeal to the Minister of State to ask his Minister to go to the Government and tell them that it must be possible to make a few hundred thousand pounds available for the Irish Olympic Council. Surely it is not outside the imagination or the capacity of his senior civil servants to extract that amount from the £900 million made available to that Department.
Here I would give the Minister of State a blank cheque. Having looked at all the Estimates I will say I do not mind from which subhead he takes it — I should like to see him taking it from higher education, because I am advocating on behalf of a branch of education which is as vital as exists in the rooms of Trinity or UCD or UCG or any other university in Ireland, or any third level college. I know the Minister of State cannot operate on licence from somebody on this side, and maybe it would be poor companionship for him, but I am saying in his presence that as far as I am concerned he should take a few hundred thousand out of the total amount of money provided for third level education and give it to the IOC and I will support him, whether it is for Brigid Corrigan, the high jumper, Eamon Coghlan, who is blessed in so far as he is not dependent on us, Taylor or Treacy.
I hope, too, boxers and others who will be going to Los Angeles will have an opportunity to prepare themselves properly. When we are looking at our television sets in 1984, DV, I hope we will not be asking ourselves and our neighbours: "Why was such an athlete sent?" but rather saying: "During the year before the Olympic Games we were happy with the Government who assigned a certain amount of money for them to prepare themselves and if they were not good enough, then so be it. It was not our fault. We were mindful of the responsibility they carried and we helped in their preparations."
: In his opening remarks Deputy Tunney dealt with the broad area of education. In the very short time available to me I do not propose to follow up every point he raised. I took it that the question on the Adjournment tonight dealt with Ireland's participation in the Olympic Games. Education covers a very broad area, but I will be replying to the points raised in the context of the Olympic Games.
The Olympic Games, which are held every four years, achieve a communication between the nations of the world which represent a vast range of differing political, social, cultural and economic attitudes. They are also the most important demonstration of sports performance in the world, in which top-class athletes are united in competition. It must be remembered however, that the games are not an end in themselves — rather they are seen by the Olympic movement as a means of stimulating a broad programme of physical education and competitive sport for all youth. For every athlete who is selected to take part in the games there are thousands who train for the very same honour.
The aims of the Olympic Games are not to offer participants the opportunity to win gold medals but rather to draw the world's attention to the fact that physical training and competitive sport not only develop the health and strength of young people but also exert a highly desirable and beneficial influence on their personality. It is important to remember this point if we are not to detract from the gallant efforts of the countless young people who dedicate themselves to rigorous preparation and training of mind and body in pursuit of excellence, and in the urge to be recognised as the best.
Bearing in mind, however, that the Olympic Games are for individuals, the attention and prestige attributed to high achievement cannot fail to be a source of national pride to the country of the participant, and medals at the Olympic Games are the ultimate achievement for the dedicated sportsman or sportswoman.
In Ireland the responsibility for the development of the Olympic Movement and for ensuring the representation of Irish athletes at the Olympic Games is allocated to the Olympic Council of Ireland by the International Olympic Committee. Since 1924 the Olympic Council of Ireland have discharged this duty with dedication and efficiency, coupled with wisdom and integrity in their approach to the many complex problems and undesirable developments which have occurred in sport over the years and which have tended to tarnish the high-minded ideals of the Olympic philosophy.
Apart from ensuring the representation of Irish athletes at the Olympic Games the role of the Olympic Council is to assist the sports organisations to identify talent of Olympic potential and to assist in the development of this talent in the field of coaching, competition and assessment of progress.
We have already a small group of highly talented athletes whose potential for high achievement, given the right preparation, training and back-up services, is in no doubt. One need only recall the recent new world record for the indoor mile achieved by Eamon Coghlan and the fact that Ray Flynn came second in that marvellous race; John Treacy of whom we have consistently high expectations; Carey May, whose achievement in winning the Osaka Women's Marathon earlier this year in two hours 29 minutes and 23 seconds places her seventh in the ranking of women marathon runners; our boxers and yachtsmen who brought honour to themselves and to their country in winning medals at the 1980 Olympic Games; and Hazel Greene who has attained world class standard in target archery.
These are but examples of people whose talents we applaud, whose dedication we admire, and in whom we place our hopes for success in the international field, and in particular at the Olympic Games. For success at the Olympic Games not only brings prestige to a country, but also serves as a source of national pride which reaps beneficial results throughout society and has repercussions far beyond the radius of the winner's immediate environment. The impact of victory has an invigorating effect, not alone on our own self-pride and esteem but on our standing abroad. The winner also serves as a model for our young people and brings home the value of the basic principles of the Olympic movement as a motivation instrument, as I have already outlined.
Success is not easily won, however. Otherwise it would not merit the respect and exhaltation which surround it. It will be noted that the majority of the athletes whom I mentioned as examples of the talent which there is in this country, have received their athletic training in the United States or in Britain. They have had opportunities which are not available to the majority of young people in this country and it can be reasonably assumed that, given the right conditions, there is a wealth of athletic talent waiting to be nurtured and developed. The right conditions to which I refer embrace the whole spectrum of sport in our society, ranging from the provision of facilities from club through national level, the existence of proper coaching structures, the availability of top-class coaches, the right approach to training and competition, attention to the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of sports injuries, and so on.
In early 1982, the Olympic Council of Ireland submitted a development plan for Olympic sport to the then Minister of State with responsibility for sport. This development plan was subsequently examined in depth by COSPOIR, the National Sports Council and a report of COSPOIR's findings has been submitted to me. It is clear from the report which I have received that progress towards high achievement at the Olympic Games requires the adoption of measures which in the first place will enable athletes of potential to be identified, and secondly, will provide those athletes with the necessary back-up services in regard to coaching, training facilities, international competition, medical surveillance, nutrition and diet, and so on, which in the long-term will enable them to compete in the Olympic Games on equal terms with competitors from other countries.
In its report to me, COSPOIR has identified short-term and long-term measures which are required to give our athletes an equal chance on the international sports scene. In the short term, the 1984 Olympic Games are the target, and it is my intention to provide all possible assistance and support for athletes who are now being prepared as potential competitors for those games within the limitations imposed by the current budgetary situation.
Deputy Tunney referred to my belated approach to the important question of the Olympic Games, and the importance of giving grant aids or support to the Olympic Council of Ireland. Deputy Tunney occupied my position a few years ago. I am sure he had regular contacts with sporting organisations. I had a long and very fruitful meeting with the officers of this council. It was a most interesting discussion. I have given them the date on which I will communicate with them and give them a decision on what the allocation will be for this year, this preparatory year which is the important year in relation to the Olympic Games. They are quite satisfied with the date I have given them. They thanked me for it.
At present it is difficult to give as much as one would like to give, and to give an amount which would justify our performance and enable our athletes to do the preparatory work necessary to compete in the Olympic Games. Certain constraints were mentioned by the Deputy. Deputy Tunney said I could take the money from any vote covered by the £900 million allocated to education this year. On the Estimate for the Department of Education I have had to answer to the Opposition on two occasions for suggested cuts.
: If the Minister wants to indulge in that razzamatazz he can talk to those people in question.
: The Deputy said he was not being political. There are some points on which I disagree with him and I disagree with that particularly. The Deputy said that when he was Minister of State with responsibility for sport he got an increase of 50 per cent but it is very easy to get that increase when one is talking about a low base. I hope to be in a position to have a decision very shortly and I will communicate with the Olympic Council.
The Deputy spoke about the allocation of £619,000 for sport this year. I should like to inform him that the youth and sports grants to the VECs will be approximately £700,000 this year. In the short time I have been in the Department I have met more sporting organisations than anyone else. I have not turned my back on sport. I realise its importance and I acknowledge the valuable work being done by the Olympic Council. They have an enormous task ahead of them and I hope to be in a position to give them a decision in the very near future.
: They do not want a mere decision; what they want is money in plenty.
The Dáil adjourned at 9.35 p.m. until 10.30 a.m. on Wednesday, 23 March 1983.