Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 15 May 2013
33. Deputy Seán Crowe asked the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport if he will provide a progress report on the development of facilities at the National Sports Campus; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [22851/13]
View answerThe primary aim of the National Sports Campus is to provide state-of the-art facilities for Irish sports men and women to train and prepare for competition at the highest level. A lot of progress has been made since its foundation, including the National Aquatic Centre, the Institute of Sport and the FAI Headquarters. I am very pleased to say that a significant amount of work is taking place at present which will see further elements of the Sports Campus completed this year. Work is ongoing on the development of multi-sport all-weather pitches and a pavilion, which will be open to all national governing bodies and also local communities under the management of the sports campus. The pitches are expected to be completed by September with the pavilion scheduled for completion by the end of the year. Training facilities for high-performance athletes in equestrian and modern pentathlon sports are expected to be completed by August.
Agreements are in place between the National Sports Campus Development Authority (NSCDA) and the FAI, GAA, IRFU and the Irish Hockey Association to develop facilities for each of their sports. It is expected that at least two of these organisations will commence work on their facilities this year.
A new Irish Sport HQ has been completed and will be officially opened later this month. The building will accommodate 19 National Governing Bodies of Sport, all of whom will have completed their relocation to the new building by this week.
This year is the 10 Anniversary of the opening of the National Aquatic Centre and it is continuing to perform well. Since it opened in 2003 the Centre has recorded over 7 million visits.
