Michael Finucane
Question:273 Mr. Finucane asked the Minister for Tourism, Sport and Recreation the plans, if any, he has to introduce a system of regulation of licensing of public and privately run outdoor adventure centres. [10125/98]
Written Answers - Sports Regulation.
The role of the Department of Tourism, Sport and Recreation is to formulate and oversee the implementation of policies for the promotion and development of sport, inter alia, through the provision of funding to national governing bodies of sport. The establishment of procedures and practices to discharge their duty of care to participants in a sport is a matter for individual governing bodies.
Funding is provided, by the Department, on an annual basis, to the Association for Adventure Sports (AFAS) which is the recognised governing body for adventure sports. The centre standards board of AFAS sets standards for adventure centres relating to safety, safety procedures, safety of equipment and qualifications of staff, evaluates centres against such standards and issues an annual list of approved centres.