Pat Rabbitte
Question:17 Mr. Rabbitte asked the Minister for Tourism, Sport and Recreation the discussions he has had with the Department of Defence regarding Eircom Park; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [21123/00]
Written Answers. - Eircom Park.
Question:
36 Mr. Hayes asked the Minister for Tourism, Sport and Recreation the total level of financial support which he will make available to the FAI in respect of its proposed plans to build a stadium in south-west Dublin; if he has given consideration to a special allocation for this project; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [19287/00]
Pat Rabbitte
Question:38 Mr. Rabbitte asked the Minister for Tourism, Sport and Recreation when he last met with the Football Association of Ireland to discuss its proposals for Eircom Park; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [21107/00]
Question:
47 Mr. Coveney asked the Minister for Tourism, Sport and Recreation the nature of the financial offer made to the Football Association of Ireland to discontinue its plans for Eircom Park; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [19504/00]
Minister for Tourism, Sport and Recreation
(Dr. McDaid): I propose to take Questions Nos. 17, 36, 38 and 47 together.
My Department has not received any application for financial assistance from the FAI for the Eircom Park project. The FAI made separate presentations of their stadium proposal to the Taoiseach, the Minister for Finance and to myself, prior to the public launch of their project. Since the presentation made to me by the FAI on 19 February 1999, I did not have a formal meeting with the FAI. The Taoiseach met with representatives of the FAI to discuss the Eircom Park on 6 March last.
In the course of each of these presentations, the FAI representatives were at pains to make it clear to the Government that their project would be self-financing and not reliant on any external grant aid.
This was subsequently confirmed in the documentation that accompanied the public launch of the arena project. The FAI did state that it had longer term plans for the construction of a national youth coaching and development centre and said that it was likely that it would be seeking Government support for that project. Consequently, the matter of support or any special allocation, for the FAI stadium, does not arise.
The House will be well aware that the Government's clearly expressed, and repeated, wish is that the FAI come on board the Stadium Ireland project. It has already been indicated to the FAI that Campus and Stadium Ireland Development Limited – CSID – estimates that revenue in the region of £40 million could be generated for the FAI through ticket sales alone. In addition, of course, the FAI would not be faced with any capital debt repayments or infrastructural costs.
In my view the FAI could do excellent work by distributing this £40 million to club and youth soccer facilities and training right across the country. The FAI would, in that situation, have full use of the national stadium without cost to them until matches come to be played and would be able to assist the development of soccer in this country on an unprecedented scale.
The Government's announcement of Sports Campus Ireland is part of an overall strategy to allow individual sports associations to concentrate on developing and investing in their own sports at all levels.
I have had no discussions with my colleague, the Minister for Defence, regarding Eircom Park.