Our purpose is to consider the motion referred to the select committee by the Dáil on 1 July 2008, "That Dáil Éireann approve the terms of the International Convention against Doping". The motion is to be dealt with in the Dáil tomorrow. I welcome the Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism, Deputy Cullen, and his officials and ask him to make his opening statement.
International Convention against Doping: Motion.
I thank you, a Chathaoirligh, and the members of the Select Committee on Arts, Sport, Tourism, Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs for giving me the opportunity of introducing, for the approval of Dáil Éireann, Ireland's ratification of the UNESCO international convention against doping in sport. It is timely that we are seeking formal ratification of this convention ahead of the biggest sports event in the world, the Beijing Olympic and Paralympic Games.
Unfortunately, drug abuse in sport remains a very real threat today and Ireland's ratification of the UNESCO convention will signal our continuing support for the global fight against this problem. Enormous strides have been made internationally in the fight against doping in recent years. Members of the committee will be aware that Ireland is already contributing to the international efforts against drugs in sport through our support for the Copenhagen declaration on anti-doping, the Council of Europe anti-doping convention and WADA, the World Anti-Doping Agency.
The UNESCO convention is the first global treaty formalising the commitment of governments to fight against doping in sport. The Department of Arts, Sport and Tourism and the Irish Sports Council contributed to the drafting process which led to the adoption of the convention. A co-ordinated international effort is important if we are to take effective action to combat the cheats. The convention is a clear illustration of how seriously governments throughout the world are taking the issue of doping. Ireland's ratification of the convention will ensure it remains at the forefront of the worldwide fight against doping alongside other governments, sports bodies and agencies which are determined to rid us of the abuse of drugs in sport. The UNESCO convention, together with the WADA through its anti-doping code, seeks to ensure there is a level playing field and all countries participating in international and Olympic Games competitions operate national anti-doping programmes and co-operate with others in tackling doping.
Ireland's national anti-doping programme which is administered by the Irish Sports Council is recognised internationally as an outstanding model of its type. The programme which was established in 1999 entails a three-strand approach involving testing, education and research. The council carries out its anti-doping functions in accordance with strict and confidential procedures which are in line with the highest standards and compliance with the WADA code. Anti-doping regulations are administered in a unified and harmonised approach across all sports in the country. All national governing bodies of sport are signatories to the Irish anti-doping rules.
As Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism, I strongly support the Irish Sport Council's work in combating doping in sport. Since its inception in 1999, the national anti-doping programme has made a significant contribution to sport in Ireland. I am grateful to the chair of the council's anti-doping committee, Dr. Brendan Buckley, and the members of the committee for their work. They have brought their expertise and commitment to the committee to further Ireland's efforts to combat doping in sport.
I ask the committee for its favourable consideration and support in obtaining Dáil approval in order that Ireland can ratify the UNESCO convention. I thank it for its courtesy and attention in dealing with the issue, which is important if we are to combat doping in sport and further enhance Ireland's standing in the area.
Gabhaim buíochas leis an Aire as ucht an ráiteas sin. Má tá ceisteanna ag na baill, tá deis acu iad a chur.
It is important that the committee support this proposal. I would like to ask the Minister a few questions. He is right to say the motion is timely, a month before the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games. I like soccer, Gaelic football, rugby and many other sports, but I have no time for the Olympics Games. I do not doubt that athletes who win gold medals next month will have to give them back 18 months later when they test positive for drugs. Professional dopers have affected sports competitions, particularly the Olympics Games, during the years. I will support anything that can be done in Ireland and elsewhere in Europe to get these cheats out of sport. I hope the Government and the Irish Sports Council will ensure funding is used to that end. Does the council have enough funding to deal with dope testing in this country? Who is tested here? Are the amateurs who play Gaelic games, rugby and soccer tested with the professionals? How often are they tested? Is there a legal timeframe within which sports people have to be tested?
We all welcome this attempt to deal with doping. It is important that resources are provided to ensure we get the cheats out of sport. They have ruined the Olympic Games during the years. Athletes who did this country proud for three weeks during the games were found six months later to have been doping. That is not good for sport. It is not good for sports people, particularly amateurs, who are not using drugs but are trying to compete with professional druggers. There should be no sympathy for those found to have used drugs. I recently learned of attempts to let athletes who doped in the past - from whom medals had been taken - back into the sports arena. It is a joke that such individuals want to get back into the Olympic Games. Anyone caught using performance enhancing drugs should be banned from sport forever because it is unfair for them to be able to compete against everybody else.
I ask the Minister to respond to my questions.
The Minister can deal with all Deputies' questions together, in case there is an overlap.
I welcome the Minister's comments on doping in sport. I would like to ask about non-national governing bodies of sports. Anecdotal evidence suggests some form of doping takes place in some schools, particularly in rugby and certain other sports. How does the Irish Sports Council interact with schools and colleges in this regard?
I support the Minister's efforts to bring forward the tightest and most stringent rules possible. It is important that everybody who wins something in sport is competing against people who have not taken anything improper.
I was surprised to read in the briefing notes that the motion needed to be passed because the existing convention was not legally binding. If this rule was not passed and an Irish athlete tested positive at the Olympics Games, what difference would it make?
We support the highest possible standards in this country but what about countries which do not sign up to this? Will our athletes have to compete against those from countries which do not operate to the highest standards?
Testing is now carried out on GAA players, which at one time created a culture shock. Do the standards apply across the board - for team sports, individual sports and both amateur and professional sports?
I welcome this measure which is very positive and progressive. It is important we have in place the highest standards and that we know that any medals brought home by our athletes from the Olympics Games have been won fair and square, without enhancement.
The funding question has already been asked but it is important. Do we have an accredited doping control laboratory in Ireland? Do we need one? Perhaps we do not. Article II includes a definition of accredited doping control laboratories as "laboratories accredited by the world anti-doping agency". If we do not need such a laboratory, from where do we call in the expertise to provide the services it offers?
The note also mentions research. Clearly, there are many very clever people who are spending a lot of time in pharmaceutical laboratories generating new drugs and other products. It is virtually impossible to keep tabs on them. What role does the Minister envisage Ireland playing in the area and how can we keep up to speed with the research? I appreciate that it is very difficult and costly. Do we have to call in international experts for that purpose also? Is it a more productive approach or should we consider developing our own lines of research? Given our investment in science and technology, it might be worthwhile pursuing the latter course. It is important because research moves forward very quickly. Very clever compounds can be produced very rapidly. That is the challenge, not just for Ireland but for everybody involved.
I do not say it is a grey area but it is important to define what is and is not a nutritional supplement. What impact, if any, do nutritional supplements have on young athletes? If somebody has been taking medicine and inadvertently oversteps the mark and tests positive, we need clear rules. We need to be able to stand over the results of a test but we also need to be able to decide whether, in such cases, it was the therapeutic treatment which caused the positive reading or something else.
I welcome the report and thank the Minister and his officials for being proactive. In the proximity of the upcoming Olympic Games it is essential that all countries sending athletes to the games should have proper standards and controls. Ireland has always endeavoured to operate in a fair and exemplary fashion, with a couple of minor exceptions. That is how it should be.
Have all the countries participating in the Olympic Games signed in at the World Anti-Doping Agency? Can we be certain they are adhering to the regulations? If they do not comply, will there be sanctions against them, apart from expelling any of their athletes who are caught, when it may be too late? Is there something in the rules that will enable those countries to be automatically excluded from the Olympic Games or the WADA?
I welcome the timely ratification of the convention against doping by this Parliament. I listened to a discussion on radio yesterday with Mr. Paul Kimmage who has taken part in the Tour de France on many occasions. He has made a career out of examining how the doping industry has affected many competitors, including successful ones. He made the valid point that when this was taking place, tremendous pressure was being brought to bear on competitors by sponsors to win at all costs. He said that, in an effort to clean up the sport of cycling, some sponsors were not demanding such high results. Rather than expecting the competitor to win at all times, they ask only that competitors compete and stay clean. That is how they get their kudos. That is something that could be emulated in other team and individual sports where pressure is brought to bear on competitors to win.
A number of years ago the former Mid-Western Health Board had the foresight to sponsor the Limerick senior hurling team which had emblazoned on their shirts the motto "Drug Free Cul". It did not do us much good on the field but it promoted the fact that the players wearing the jersey were drug free. We should put more resources into such actions. It is great to win but we should take the emphasis off winning at all costs and encourage participants in sport to compete cleanly.
I thank members for their universal support for anti-doping programmes and enunciations on the importance and significance of such programmes.
I appreciate Deputy Ring's comments. We are all aware of and disappointed by what has occurred at the Olympic Games during the years. I would not go so far as to say we should have no time for the games. However, we must ensure those competing are not using illegal enhancements. As in all walks of life, there are people who try to cheat. We need to ensure the highest possible standards are applied globally, nationally and in the European, US and Asian blocs.
It is important to note that Ireland has been to the forefront in developing the programme. I make it clear to members that the programme under discussion has been implemented by the Irish Sports Council. This is just the technical ratification. We were, in fact, involved in its drafting, in which we played a significant role. The programme followed in Ireland was the one largely followed internationally. We are also party to the European convention which is much tougher than the UNESCO programme. We have substantially higher standards than UNESCO. However, this is the first attempt at a global approach to an anti-doping programme. Some 86 countries are part of the UNESCO programme.
There is no shortage of resources. Last year 1,135 national anti-doping tests were carried out compared with 600 in 2000, a substantial increase. Every member of the Irish Olympic and Paralympic teams will be tested on at least three occasions before they go to Beijing. This is a very high standard and I am happy to inform colleagues of this fact. Some countries are not part of the programme and may make their own arrangements but every competitor will be subject to the Olympic testing programme, whether his or her country has signed up to the UNESCO programme. There will be a very substantial increase in the number of tests carried out in Beijing, where 4,500 tests will be administered. This is 25% more than the number conducted at the 2004 games in Athens and 90% more than in Sydney eights years ago. The approach by the Olympic Council has seen a huge change.
All sports bodies in Ireland are signatories to the Irish anti-doping rules. The number of tests carried out under the Irish anti-doping programme is in line with international norms. I am happy to say the rate of adverse analytical findings indicates a low rate of doping in Ireland. This point has been made by others. We would like to keep Irish rates low. Our objective is to eliminate doping entirely.
Deputy Brady referred to a schools programme. All athletes in competition are subject to testing by their own governing bodies. With regard to other countries, we cannot dictate what others do. We try to work in a collegiate way internationally, as we are doing with UNESCO and do in Europe, to get as many bodies as possible to sign up. Even if other countries do not so, their athletes will not escape because they will be subject to testing at the Olympic Games.
The doping laboratory used for Irish tests is in the United Kingdom but our own Dr. Una May who is head of the Irish Sports Council anti-doping programme has a very high international reputation and is one of an international group of experts working in this area. She plays a very significant role in that regard.
There are very clear guidelines in place with regard to the use of nutritional supplements. The Irish Sports Council provides a pack for all athletes, detailing what is allowable. There is no reason for an athlete to inadvertently take something, as the rules and guidelines are very clear, although I know it happens from time to time. We are all human. However, there are clear rules laid down by the Irish Sports Council.
I accept that some have a win at all costs attitude, as Deputy Cregan and others said. While people train hard in order that they can win - they want to win - the most important thing is to compete. I take the point that those involved in sponsorship in sport should act in a positive manner to emphasise that it is not just about winning. Members have mentioned that the Tour de France has gone through a difficult time in recent years, out of which it is trying to come. It has become clear that sponsors will not continue to support individuals and teams involved in doping. Such activity was hurting those companies involved in sponsorship. That is an important point. Drug taking in sport is no longer publicly acceptable. Sponsors are nervous about being involved with an individual or group if there is a suspicion that they might be taking drugs to enhance performance. That is a powerful message. I hope those who have always participated in sport in a legitimate manner will win out in the end. That is what all this is about. Athletes from all parts of the world should be in a position to participate on a level playing field, regardless of the sport in which they participate. I hope we can reach a point at which no athlete takes drugs. It is not possible today to say that is the case. The reality is that cheats can be found in all walks of life.
I asked about the number of participating countries.
Some 86 countries are participating.
What is the difference between the number of countries participating in the games and the number of members of UNESCO? I am aware of previous cases in which scientists have designed drugs which do not show up in blood or urine tests once ten days have elapsed. I am concerned that some countries which are participating in the Olympic Games have not signed up to this programme. Irish athletes will have been tested three times by the time they arrive in Beijing. However, I am concerned that athletes from countries which have not subscribed to the WADA code will take drugs which will have left their systems by the time the Olympic Games start. Is there any method such as a "name and shame" system, whereby such countries can be forced to sign up to the programme?
There is no such system, in effect. It is a matter for each country to sign up to it. Most, if not all, of the athletes who will be participating in the Olympic Games have been subject to drug testing in the last 12 months. They participate in sport at different levels throughout the world in the build-up to the games. It is not as if an athlete who has been off the scene for a year and has not been in a position to be drug-tested during that time will suddenly arrive to compete. I emphasise that the drug testing regime in Beijing will be very strict, without fear or favour to any athlete or any country. Everybody will be subject to the full drug testing regime. Big names from various countries have already dropped out of the games because they have been caught taking drugs. I refer to individuals involved in athletics and other sports. We will have to wait and see what happens at the Olympic Games but people will always try to beat the system. Deputy Kennedy is right to suggest that they will try anything if they think they can profit from corruption. The onslaught on drug taking in sport in recent years has had a significant effect. It has had a definite impact. Some high profile events have changed substantially as a result of the work to which I refer. We need to continue the fight if we are to eliminate the use of drugs altogether.
Gabhaim buíochas leis an Aire as ucht na ceisteanna éagsúla os na Teachtaí a fhreagra go cuimsitheach. I thank the Minister for his comprehensive responses to the varied and appropriate questions from members of the committee. I thank him and his officials. I remind members that representatives of the Olympic Council of Ireland will be present at next week's meeting. On that occasion they will be able to wish our representatives in Beijing well.