At the outset I welcome this Bill as a major contribution to the development of sport in Ireland. I hope the Minister will be open to suggestions and amendments which may be submitted on Committee and Report Stages. To date this has been a very inclusive process and I hope this will continue.
I compliment Deputy Allen, the previous Minister with responsibility for sport, for his initiative in setting up the strategy group under the chairmanship of John Treacy, a former world champion athlete, with the objective of producing a blueprint for the future of sport.
Next to the weather, people talk more about sport than any other topic. We discuss a forthcoming game and afterwards replay it, a disallowed goal, a try, a point and invariably the performance of the referee and players. We talk about it in the workplace the following morning or over a pint before going home after a match.
Sport, which is an integral part of Irish society, demands a combination of physical skill and strength, an alert mind, enthusiasm and teamwork. The body must be trained for these accomplishments, a person must work for them and become skilful. Accordingly the successful teams or sportspeople are highly regarded and admired as role models for young people. Over the years this country, with minimal facilities, has produced individual sportsmen and women and teams who have successfully competed with the best in the world. Ronnie Delaney, Eamonn Coughlan and the late Noel Carroll are among those who spring to mind. I wish to put on record the role Noel Carroll played in the life of Dublin and in sporting life generally in Ireland and throughout the world. Sonia O'Sullivan, Catherina McKiernan, John Treacy and Jack's soccer team are only some of the sports people who will always be remembered, not only in Ireland but across the world.
Given the obvious potential which exists in every sports code, particularly for our young sportsmen and women, we must ask what could be achieved if we had proper facilities and a co-ordinated approach to sport, from the top down to the thousands of volunteers who give up their time and energy freely because of their love of sport. Let us hope this legislation, in conjunction with the new grant schemes for recreational and sports clubs, new facilities and training for our coaches and volunteers, will rejuvenate the community spirit for which our people are renowned.
I compliment the Minister on his commitment to the anti-doping programme he launched earlier this year. Participation in the programme by national governing bodies and individuals should have been compulsory rather than voluntary. The use of drugs to enhance performance in sports goes back thousands of years. From around 400 BC the role of sport in Greek society was as prominent as it is everywhere today. Victory in the ancient Olympic Games ensured high rewards in terms of money, food, housing, tax exemptions, etc. However, drugs were ultimately a major reason for the dissolution of the ancient Olympic Games.
The vast majority of people are firmly of the opinion that the injection of banned performance enhancing substances is nothing less than cheating. There is no room in Irish sport for cheats.
The Tour de France to Ireland — and the Minister rightly received a great deal of kudos for bringing the prestigious event to Ireland — outlined how deeply modern sport has been corrupted by these substances. As journalists Tim Blair and Rod Usher reported in Time magazine recently, “This year's world's leading bicycle race was revealed to be more of a Tour de Pharmacy than a competition which enabled the best cyclists win”. Festina, the top team in the competition, had its nine riders expelled. As the race progressed, it became more obvious than ever before that substance abuse is rampant in professional cycling. The same question must be posed in relation to other elite world sports involving massive money and sponsorship such as athletics, swimming, weightlifting and many others.
As a keen sportsman, I first became interested in the problem of drugs in sport when a cyclist for whom I had great regard died during a stage of the Tour de France. He was Tommy Simpson from England. Until it can be positively proved that professional cycling has cleaned up its act with regard to drug taking, I will object strenuously to the Tour de France ever coming to Ireland again. As a country and people who, by and large, believe that the deliberate taking of a banned performance enhancing substance is cheating we must call a halt, irrespective of how many shots of our beautiful countryside are scanned across the television screens of Europe and further afield. We must make a stand.
The stories from the former East European countries, for example, indicate there was an organised drug programme in operation at national level from the early 1970s to the late 1980s. The real losers at the end of the day were the swimmers and athletes who went through the programme and whose lives were destroyed. Many of these athletes died and others have serious heart and liver complaints. The message should go out to our young sports people that, irrespective of the glory to be had on a particular day, their health will be affected.
The deterrent against drug taking in sport is not sufficient. It was an utter scandal that Ben Johnson, who was stripped of his gold medal in the Seoul Olympics following a positive drug test, was only given a two year suspension. Athletes found guilty of drug taking should be banned for life. The Olympic Council of Ireland should take this issue up with the IOC.
The recent revelations by a former Irish rugby player, Neil Francis, that Irish rugby players have been taking illegal performance enhancing substances is very disturbing. The further revelations that two or three positive tests on Irish rugby players are under investigation requires clarification and there must be transparency in the IRFU. Nothing less is acceptable. We cannot hide anything in relation to drugs — everything must be above board.
The sooner the Minister's programme is up and running the better. I appeal to all our national sports organisations to show their full commitment to fighting sport's most pressing problem. There is no place for cheats in Irish sport. If these organisations are not prepared to co-operate, there must be a real deterrent. I fully agree with the Minister that channelling grant aid from Government through the National Lottery must cease until there is full co-operation from these organisations in regard to dealing with drug abuse.
In urban areas, particularly the greater Dublin region, there is an ever increasing demand for playing pitches, whether for soccer, Gaelic or rugby football. In the past, the majority of football teams in Dublin had their own private pitches, either purchased or rented from a farmer. With the demand for housing land and prices reaching £70,000 per acre, it is no longer feasible, by and large, for new clubs to own their own pitches. Accordingly, there is an increasing onus on local authorities to provide pitches.
Various councils, particularly in the greater Dublin area, have been doing an excellent job to date, however their land banks have diminished. The net effect is that, with the wholesale rezoning that has taken place, sports fields and open spaces have not been provided in development plans to date. We now have a crisis as there is insufficient space available for the local population for active recreation.
I wish to bring to the Minister's attention a major problem I have come across in recent months. A very successful club in my constituency, called River Valley Rangers Soccer Club, applied to Fingal County Council for consent to change the use of an existing hard surface tennis court, which has not been used for the past seven years, to an all-weather floodlit training area, not only for its own club members but also for use by a community living in more than 2,000 houses.
On the basis of legal opinion secured by the council it was deemed that as the area in question was designated public open space, they would not be allowed change the hard surface tennis court into an all weather training area. This seems ludicrous and scandalous and I ask the Minister to ensure his officials investigate the matter. Given the lack of land in the greater Dublin area we could be left with only designated open space as against open space which was utilised in the past. If this law exists and is applied there might be major problems in the future.
Arising from this situation and the lack of pitches for clubs in general, I am of the view that a new approach must be taken in the context of development plans. Developers and builders will have to accept that they have a social responsibility with regard to housing developments. Additional lands will have to be incorporated into every action plan to provide both active and passive recreational amenities in addition to the percentage which is available or should be designated as part of planning applications.
For some time I have been of the opinion that planning authorities should have the right under planning legislation to condition builders and developers to make a financial contribution as part of planning permission towards the cost of a community facility. This would be of huge benefit for new residential areas. As authorities do not have the right to make such a condition, will the Minister take up this proposal with his colleague, the Minister for the Environment and Local Government?
In case some of my political opponents endeavour to misrepresent this proposal, I wish to make it very clear that this is totally at variance with a ploy used by some developers and builders in their efforts to achieve rezonings.
For example, these people use the legitimate needs of sports clubs as a tool to secure rezonings. The way to provide pitches and funding for recreational facilities is through an amendment to planning legislation and not by means of a carrot of support for rezonings.
Forty years ago the majority of football teams changed under bushes or trees at the side of pitches. After a match many players found their clothes had been scattered by cattle or other animals — something which I and I am sure other Members experienced — and soaked by rain. I was shocked to hear that, apart from the activity of cattle, this was still the case today. The majority of new clubs cannot afford to provide their own dressing rooms and the various local authorities across the country do not have the finance to do so either. This is totally unacceptable, particularly when we are endeavouring to attract young school boys and girls towards a healthier life style and away from other attractions competing for the hearts and minds of our young people, such as drugs and vandalism.
This brings me to the national lottery which commenced trading on 23 March 1987. Total profits up to 1995 came to more than £800 million. In the light of these profits it is very difficult to convince thousands of volunteers in various sports throughout the country that their endeavours are appreciated by Government. For example, the only grant available to the majority of clubs in my county last year was through the youth and sports grants scheme operated by the VEC. Each club received £87 which would not purchase a set of jerseys, or even pay to have them cleaned. It is imperative in the interest of sport that the original grant allocation of national lottery profits to sport, recreation and youth be restored. In 1988 the percentage allocation for these areas came to 50.9 per cent. In 1997 this had dropped to 33 per cent of total lottery funding.
Three weeks ago a fire destroyed the clubhouse of Fingalions GFC in Swords, one of the most progressive clubs in the country. The members of the club, which caters for more than 30 teams per week, were devastated at the loss of their facility. However, with the support of the community of Swords and politicians they intend building a new clubhouse from the ashes of the former building. The clubhouse was used as a community centre as it was the only such facility in Swords, a town with a population in excess of 25,000. It was used by all groups such as senior citizens, youths and many other organisations, including the local soccer clubs. Given its pivotal role in the community life of Swords I strongly recommend that in the new grant scheme which the Minister shortly intends advertising — perhaps this has already been done — special consideration be given to an application by this club by providing it with a major grant, something which would be very much appreciated.
To the best of my knowledge one of the requirements under the sports and community grant scheme is that projects should not proceed without grant approval from the Minister's Department. I strongly recommend that a more flexible approach be taken in this regard. For example, if a sports club draws up a viability plan, which in most cases envisages a loan from financial institutions, it should be allowed proceed and not be discriminated against when grants become available or are advertised. If clubs waited until they received grant approval from the Department before proceeding many would not have got off the ground. In this context a more flexible approach is necessary.
Before concluding I will record the achievements of the Community Games, an organisation which must be complimented. I hope in the context of trying to further develop it, making it even more successful and bringing a wider international dimension to it, which would include Northern Ireland and England, that more facilities are provided for it. Perhaps the Minister will meet with the officers of the Community Games to see how they can be facilitated in this regard.
I welcome the Bill. It is a major step towards developing sport in Ireland and I look forward to making further contributions on subsequent Stages.