Vol. 495 No. 5
43 Mr. M. Moynihan asked the Minister for Tourism, Sport and Recreation the steps, if any, being taken by the Olympic Council of Ireland to ensure that a similar situation to that where an unseemly public dispute arose during the Atlanta games between the Olympic Council of Ireland and BLE regarding the clothing to be worn by our top athletes on the track does not arise at Sydney 2000. [20520/98]
46 Mr. M. Moynihan asked the Minister for Tourism, Sport and Recreation if the Olympic Council of Ireland sought any funding from his Department regarding the participation of an Irish team in the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games. [20521/98]
I propose to take Questions Nos. 43 and 46 together.
The Olympic Council of Ireland wrote to me on 27 July 1998 indicating that while it had identified a sponsor willing to provide the gear and clothing requirements of the Irish team for Sydney 2000, the sponsorship deal was subject to the sponsor having the exclusive rights in relation to the gear and clothing to be worn by the team both in and out of competition at the games.
This requirement would, the OCI indicated, once again bring the OCI into conflict with one of its affiliated national governing bodies of sport as happened in Atlanta, 1996. In this context the OCI sought the Government to take over the sponsorship deal valued at £405,000.
In my response to the OCI dated 18 August 1998 I intimated that while I quite agreed that a repeat of the very public dispute that arose in Atlanta over this issue of gear and clothing is not desirable, the Olympic Council of Ireland should be able to work out, to the satisfaction of all its members, an open and transparent methodology for seeking, selecting and accepting offers of sponsorship.
Equally, as the availability of taxpayers' money to fund any one area of activity, such as sport is limited, it certainly would not be appropriate to divert Government funding away from sporting activities and organisations to fund a project for which appropriate private sponsorship was available.
Given the independence of the OCI, I indicated my strong view that difficulties or disputes between the council and any of its affiliated federations are internal matters for the organisations concerned, that I trusted that the OCI would resolve any difficulties in this area, and that Sydney 2000 should not be tarnished by public disputes between Irish representatives.
The only other funding sought by the OCI to date from my Department specifically in relation to the Sydney 2000 games relates to a request to fully fund advance visits to Sydney by OCI management and team managers from national federations during 1998, 1999 and 2000 at a cost of £48,450, £68,400 and £22,800 respectively. On 24 August 1998 the OCI was requested to supply some additional details of these visits and a response is awaited.
